Terrorism was at the top of the agenda for Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Kotzias and his American counterpart Secretary of State John Kerry, during the Greek official’s visit to Washington. The American official expressed his concern over the potential release of convicted 17 November member Savvas Xiros, with Mr. Kotzias assuring him that Xiros will not be released, but rather be put under house arrest.
“Our efforts on counterterrorism could not be more important together in the future. Obviously, we’re very concerned that those who have committed acts of terrorism who’ve been incarcerated need to remain incarcerated. And we hope that we can work through all of our policy issues, because the relationship between us is so important, and obviously we wish the new government in this moment of challenge we wish it well and we look forward to being supportive and being helpful in the days ahead” commented Mr. Kerry.
He then noted that “we have strong ties and we are NATO partners, and obviously we are in challenging times. We are very aware of the sacrifices the people of Greece have been called on to make because of the challenges of the economy and also the challenges of terrorism and counterterrorism, but particularly the economy right now”.
Mr. Kerry then argued that “we’re confident about Greece’s ability with reforms and with effort to be able to chart a new course ahead. I would hope very much, Mr. Minister, that we have an ability to be able to maintain the strong U.S.-European partnership with respect to our support for Ukraine, the need to be able to encourage Russia in every way possible to live up to the Minsk agreement and to help bring about peace in the region, and also to work together on longer-term challenges like energy, energy supplies, and diversification for the region”.
The Greek official thanked Mr. Kerry for the invitation and underlined that “I’m here as a friend – as a friend with somebody who’s working together with us for democracy and peace against terrorism. And I hope that our relations will be deepened and that we will find new feat of cooperation. I think I can – we can be sure that the new law in Greece about the prisoners will not let any terrorists become free. It will be not only a test of the detention of – the way of this detention, nobody will become free. I am very thankful for this invitation”.
Mr. Kotzias will remain in the American capital until Thursday, where he is scheduled to meet with the National Security Advisor Susan Rice and leading members of the Senate and House of Representatives.
