Mitsotakis said Greece had joined a joint statement by European leaders welcoming the ceasefire and expressing hope that the 15-day window could lead to a negotiated settlement. He said he remained cautiously optimistic, but added that ‘it is very clear to me, as a country which is relatively close to Lebanon, that the Israeli offensive right now is completely counterproductive’. He also said that ‘if we want to talk about a complete ceasefire in the region, it needs to essentially extend to all theatres of operation, including Lebanon’.
He went on to say that Greece has ‘a strategic partnership with Israel, but friends need to speak truth to friends’. He warned that, if the attacks continue, Lebanon faces a humanitarian catastrophe and the country’s government will be completely delegitimised.
Asked about the Strait of Hormuz, Mitsotakis stressed the importance of freedom of navigation, saying Greece has a direct interest as one of the world’s major maritime powers. He said no country should have to pay to pass through the strait and argued that any such move would set a dangerous precedent. On NATO and transatlantic relations, he said he remained a firm believer in the durability of the alliance, while repeating that Europe must assume a greater share of the burden by increasing defence spending. He said Greece is already spending more than 3% of GDP on defence and backed strengthening the European pillar of strategic autonomy.
Mitsotakis was also asked about the government’s decision to ban access to social media for children under 15. He said he had first raised the issue 18 months ago at the United Nations General Assembly and argued that the platforms’ business model is built on capturing and monetising children’s attention. He said the ban would take effect on 1 January 2027 and expressed hope that Greece’s policy would eventually become EU policy.
In its response, the Greek Communist Party said Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, ‘the deadliest in recent times’, showed that the US and Israel were using the fragile ceasefire to readjust their military tactics while none of their original objectives in the intervention in Iran had been achieved.
The party said Mitsotakis’ remarks, describing ‘the murder of the people of Lebanon’ as ‘counterproductive’, were ‘yet another monument to cynicism’, and linked them to Greece’s strategic alliance with Israel and the country’s involvement in the war ‘with the support of the other Euro-Atlantic parties and for the benefit of sections of Greek capital’.
KKE also said that, within this framework, the prime minister had taken on the role of a ‘stalking horse’ on critical issues such as control of the Strait of Hormuz and increased military spending in the EU, which it said further complicate and intensify the situation. It added that recent developments leave no room for complacency, as the broader course of events points towards further escalation despite any fragile and temporary compromises.
Finally, the party said that intensifying rivalries, energy and trade wars, and the struggle for primacy within the global imperialist system form the ‘big picture’ for which peoples are paying the price. At the same time, it argued that imperialism is not omnipotent and that peoples can still leave their mark on developments by acting in accordance with their own interests against the system of exploitation and war.
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