Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos held phone talks a short while ago with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, with whom he discussed the recent developments in the Gaza Strip.
Mr. Venizelos congratulated Mr. Shoukry on Egypt’s successful mediating role in the achievement of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, reiterating Greece’s firm support for the Egyptian truce initiative and underscoring the need for a permanent ceasefire that ends the bloodshed and the tragic humanitarian crisis. The two Ministers also discussed ways to achieve the strategic goal of reopening the peace talks, and they looked at the potential for contributing in this direction on both the bilateral and European levels.
Messrs. Venizelos and Shoukry also expressed their concern at the deterioration of the situation in Libya and looked at initiatives that the international community should undertake to stabilize the country and avert another humanitarian crisis that might increase the flow of refugees and have a destabilizing effect on the whole region.
Finally, Mr. Venizelos expressed Greece’s readiness to provide immediate assistance in the operation for evacuation by sea of Egyptian citizens who have fled Libya and are now in Tunisia.
August 6, 2014