P. Beglitis: I would like to thank the Minister of Defence of Israel and dear friend of mine, Mr. Ehud Barak, for the invitation he extended to me to visit Israel, as well as for welcoming me here, in the Ministry of Defence.
As Minister of National Defence of Greece I am here to declare our political will, both as Government and as the majority of the political forces of the country, to have a sincere cooperation between the two countries, the two governments, the two peoples, so that we can further develop and consolidate our bilateral relations, in all fields of shared benefit and interest.
Along with the Minister of Defence, we will have the chance to address both bilateral issues and general issues which are of interest to our area. I am here to develop bilateral relations which do not compete with other countries of the area. Our relations with Israel are do not depend on or affect the relations we have with other countries of the area; they are not dictated by certain circumstances. We want to develop relations, focusing on the future.
Allow me to say that we fully support the security concerns of the state of Israel. We support Israel and its lawful right to self-defence, stemming from International Law, and we condemn all terrorist actions taken against citizens of the State of Israel by organizations that act from the occupied Palestinian territory.
E. Barak: We welcome the Minister of National Defence of the Hellenic Republic, Mr. Panos Beglitis, during his first visit to Israel, as Minister of National Defence. We also extended our thanks to the Greek people and the Greek Government for their swift assistance to contain Mount Carmel forest fire.
We are satisfied with the consolidation and expansion of the relations between the Israelis and the Greeks in all fields, including that of security. We both form ancient populations who greatly contributed to world civilization from this part of the Mediterranean.
Focusing on the future, we wish for the consolidation and expansion of this cooperation between the governments, the Ministries of Defence and our peoples.
Today, Mr. Beglitis and I are going to sign a Memorandum of Cooperation in the field of security, and we hope that it will constitute the beginning for many other cooperation agreements with the Greek Government. Both the Greeks and the Israelis are going through a tough period, at a global and regional level, and I believe that cooperation between us is a positive thing.
