Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras emphasised the importance of Israeli President Reuven Rivlin’s visit to Greece while receiving Israel’s president at the Maximos Mansion on Monday.
“You come at a symbolic moment,” said Tsipras, noting that Rivlin’s visit came just two days after International Holocaust Remembrance Day. “The Greek Jewish community suffered greatly during WWII,” the Greek premier added.
He referred to the close bilateral relations between the two countries, adding that their shared history was a lesson for the future. Tsipras underlined the need for cooperation to address the challenges in the region, mostly in the matter of security: “We must take bold steps for peace and stability.”
On his part, Rivlin stated: “It is our fate to live together and to turn the southeastern Mediterranean into a paradise, all of us together – Israel, Cyprus, Palestine, Egypt, Jordan and Greece.”
Tsipras and Rivlin are to travel to the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki on Tuesday, to attend a ceremony laying the foundation stone of a new Holocaust Museum in the city.
