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Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he would not describe Israel’s actions in Gaza as “genocide” and voiced opposition to possible European Union sanctions against Israel, during an interview with broadcaster ANT1.
Asked about the Israeli strikes in Gaza, Mitsotakis said: “A major humanitarian disaster is happening, but I will not use that word (genocide). It is a very heavy expression.”
He argued that Israel’s operations were aimed at ensuring its security, adding: “Israel suffered an unimaginable attack and responded. But that does not justify the scale of violence used. I conveyed this view both to Israel’s president and to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”
Commenting on the European Commission’s proposal to suspend the EU-Israel trade agreement, Mitsotakis stated: “Greece will announce its position in the Council, but I am certain such a decision is not in the interest of either Europe or Greece.”
The European Commission on Wednesday proposed suspending Israel’s preferential trade benefits under the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement and imposing sanctions on Israeli officials.
EU Commissioner for Trade Maros Sefcovic said the measures would target Israel’s preferential treatment in areas such as free movement of goods, right of establishment, services, public procurement, competition and intellectual property rights.
“In practice, Israel would lose preferential access to the EU market, and its exports would face the same tariffs applied to countries without a free trade agreement,” Sefcovic noted, adding the proposal would be decided by qualified majority in the EU Council.
Several EU members, including Spain, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Ireland, have supported suspending the partnership agreement with Israel. Others—such as Germany, Hungary, Austria, Czechia, Italy, Greece and Greek Cyprus—have blocked such measures in the past.
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