ATHENS—“Most Greeks believe that Israel is our only real ally in the region, said Greek Minister of Development and Investment Adonis Georgiadis about one week after the inauguration of the new Greek government led by Conservative Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
On the day of the swearing-in of the new government in Greece, Georgiadis met for more than two hours with Israel’s Ambassador to Athens Irit Ben-Abba, in which practical ideas were put forward for the development of economic ties between the two countries.
Georgiadis, who is also Vice President of the ruling party New Democracy, is targeting the main area of activity which the new Prime Minister wants to promote : foreign investments in Greece. Israel has also been designated a role in the development of the Greek economy.
‘’The ties between Greece and Israel are better today than ever before,” the minister said in an interview with Israel Hayom in Athens.
“The tightening of ties began in 2010 when then-Prime Minister Papandreou met with Benjamin Netanyahu.The next Greek government headed by Samras founded the triangle between Greece, Israel and Egypt.”
“Even during Prime Minister Tsipras’ tenure, relations continued to tighten, and the father of the current Prime Minister, Konstantin Mitsotakis, was the one who established diplomatic ties with Israel. His son wants to tighten relations with Israel,” said Georgiadis.
“We truly believe in the importance of these relations, and the good thing is that most of the Greek population today believes that Israel is the only true ally of Greece in the region – because we have common threats and we share common values,” he said.
“Israel is the only Western democracy in the Middle East, so it is the only country with which we can speak in a common language, the future of the relations between the two countries is brilliant,” he added.
When asked where he would you like to see Israeli investments, the minister replied : “First of all, in the field of technology, Israel is probably the leading country in the field of technological innovation, and we are interested in developing greater cooperation between the University of Thessaloniki and the Technion in this field, and of course in tourism as well.”
Georgiadis said that many Israeli investors are buying Greek hotels, real estate and land. “Why cannot they invest in the industry, too?, he asked. “Greece can be a good opportunity for Israeli investors in this field because the cost of salaries is very competitive, people here are highly educated and we are members of the European Union.’’
“Beyond that,” said the Greek minister, “we are very close to Israel, so we have advantages that can be very interesting for investors.”