Europe must address the refugee issue on humanitarian terms. Europe must never allow it to become a ‘dark continent’ again, by fighting against all forms of xenophobia and racism, including anti-Semitism” underlined President Prokopis Pavlopoulos during his meeting with his Israeli counterpart Reuven Rivlin.

The Greek President, who is currently on a three-day visit to Israel, underlined that the Middle East and Europe are under pressure from the crises, violent extremism and terrorism.

According to the Greek President, both Greece and Israel are able to contribute towards the restoration of stability in the Middle East and promote a greater degree of cooperation that will allow democratic and humanitarian values to be further entrenched in the region. This, in turn,will contribute towards peace, stability, growth and prosperity.

In response, the Israeli President explained that the two countries are not just friends, but they are rather close to each other. Mr. Rivlin further stressed that the so-called Islamic State group, the chaos in Syria and overall conflicts in the Middle East must be tackled jointly.