Foreign Ministry spokesperson Konstantinos Koutras stated the following in response to journalists’ question regarding the content of an open letter from ActionAid to Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias:
“The ActionAid letter invokes a completely misleading article in the Israeli daily “The Times of Israel,” based on the inaccurate information that Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias, following the Greek Prime Minister’s visit to Israel, sent a letter to the Israeli Prime Minister concerning a decision of the Greek government with regard to the non-implementation of an interpretative circular of the European Commission vis-à-vis the marking of products originating from occupied Palestinian territories.
As a result, the ActionAid announcement, based on inaccurate information concerning the supposed existence of a letter that does not, in fact, exist, endeavors to create impressions as to Greece’s consistency and firmness on a matter of principle.
Respecting international law, Greece never recognized the settlements in the West Bank. Greece is firmly in favor of the promotion of the peace process for the settlement of the Middle East issue and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state that will coexist in peace with Israel, within internationally recognized borders based on the pre-1967 line, and with its capital in East Jerusalem. Moreover, Greece has expressed its readiness to provide its good offices -- as an honest mediator, a partner of Israel, and a traditional friend of the Arab countries and the Palestinian people – to contribute constructively in this direction.”
December 3, 2015