Good evening ladies and gentlemen, dear friends.
It is a great pleasure to be here with you again, this year, to once more reaffirm and underscore the great importance of our friendship. The friendship between the Greek and Jewish peoples. The friendship between Greece and Israel. And the friendship between the great Diasporas of our two ancient peoples.
I am also here to reaffirm our commitment to the fight against xenophobia, racism and, in particular, anti-Semitism. Last year we reassured you that we would take all necessary steps to tackle these such sentiments which, I assure you, have no natural place in Greek society.
And earlier this month, the Hellenic Parliament passed revised anti-racism legislation. And I am pleased to report to you that this new law includes broader criteria and stricter penalties for condoning, trivializing or denying the Holocaust or other Nazi crimes.
During the last year, the leadership of Golden Dawn, who, among other things, expressed pro-Nazi sentiments, were put behind bars and brought to justice.
At the same time, throughout these years the Greek state has been redressing injustices of the past. I am talking, for example, about the legislation we passed three years ago, in 2011, providing for the granting of Greek citizenship to Jewish compatriots of ours who were torn from our homeland during the Nazi occupation, and who are now Israeli citizens.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends,
As you all know, this has been another year of great turmoil in the Eastern Mediterranean – the shared neighbourhood of Greece and Israel. In this time of turbulence, Greece is emerging from the crisis and continuing in its role as an anchor of stability and a reliable western partner in the region.
And I assure you that Greece remains committed to further strengthening and deepening its relations with its friend Israel. This process has been under way for some years now. We have seen a number of agreements, the G2G in Israel last October. So we are clearly committed to maintaining the growth momentum in our friendship and partnership.
Because Greece and Israel are friends and partners, in a region where such relations are far too scarce, and thus all the more vital. And I am pleased that this relationship is also reflected in the relations between our great Diasporas.
Thank you very much.
September 23, 2014