The agenda of Mitsotakis’ contacts with the new political leadership of Israel and the Tripartite Summit

Of Dimitris Gatsiou

Twenty-four hours before his first meeting with President Putin after the July 2019 elections, the prime minister is heading to Israel today to hold talks with his counterpart Naftali Bennett and President Ishaq Herzog. At the same time, he was “present” at the tripartite Greece-Cyprus-Israel Summit, with the participation of Nikos Anastasiadis.

As government officials point out, a few hours before the departure of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the presence of Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Israel comes to confirm the strategic and independent nature of relations between the two countries, the strengthening of cooperation in areas such as the pandemic, high technology and climate change, as well as the contribution of the tripartite cooperation scheme to peace, stability and security in the wider Eastern Mediterranean region.

Indicative of the importance that the Israeli side attaches to this first visit of Mitsotakis after the change of political leadership, but also to the strategic role of Athens is the fact that, despite the fact that Israel canceled all official visits for the next two weeks due to the “Omicron” mutation, the tripartite Summit, but also the bilateral contacts of the leaders will take place by personal decision of Naftali Bennet.

According to officials, the tripartite meeting of Mitsotakis-Anastasiadis and Bennett will be an opportunity to review the latest developments in the region and the challenges facing the three countries, including Turkey’s destabilizing role, but also to further strengthen the already close cooperation.

At the same time, it is the first personal acquaintance of the three leaders and is expected to confirm the will to strengthen cooperation based on common values. “Our cooperation, as we have emphasized many times, is not directed against third parties and is open to the participation of other countries that share the same principles and values ​​and respect good neighborly relations and international law,” is the message conveyed by government officials. shortly before the Prime Minister’s departure for Israel.

At the same time, they report that Messrs. Mitsotakis-Anastasiadis and Bennett will adopt a Joint Declaration on their coexistence, as well as the importance of the “3 + 1” scheme with the participation of the United States of America, with the agenda of the talks expanding. in cooperation on energy and Civil Protection.

On the occasion of the refugee-immigration, Mr. Mitsotakis sent new messages to the leadership of the neighbor. “Turkey has used migration as a tool in the past. You remember very well what happened in March 2020.

I think they are taking a different approach now, which is in the right direction. We must work together to eliminate traffickers’ networks. In our case we are talking about a very short distance between the Turkish coast and the Greek islands and we are happy that we managed to significantly reduce arrivals, by more than 80% since I took over as Prime Minister.

This also sends a signal to traffickers, but also to those who target traffickers: do not try it. This is a very, very dangerous journey. So, if we do not eliminate these networks and at the same time offer legal routes, legal entry points for immigration, then the situation will not be addressed.

But also the uncontrolled migration, what we saw in 2015, when we actually opened our borders to everyone, is something that is clearly not a solution. “And it is also something that will not be accepted by European public opinion,” he said in an interview with CNN.

At the same time, shortly before his trip to Israel, he had a discussion about the bilateral relations between Greece and the United States, but also the situation in the region, in successive telephone conversations with the head of US diplomacy, Anthony Blinken and the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. , Robert Menendez.

“I spoke today with the Prime Minister of Greece about the crucial role that Greece plays in promoting security and stability in Europe. We are committed together to supporting our allies and partners in NATO,” he wrote on his personal Twitter account. Mr. Blinken.