Main opposition SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance leader Stefanos Kasselakis continued his series of scheduled meetings in the US on Wednesday.
Kasselakis met on Tuesday with the Democrats member of the House of Representative Ro Khanna and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Ambassador Yuri Kim.
“The cooperation is at a very good point thanks to the process started by the SYRIZA government eight years ago. It is a relationship that must be cultivated on the basis of the common values that the USA and Greece have, the values of solidarity, democracy and peace,” he said, after the meetings.
“I was clear with Ms Kim and more generally with the deputies I met earlier in Congress that Greece must work for peace in the Middle East. We demand an immediate ceasefire. So that the bloodshed in Gaza can stop and so that ordinary people who wake up every day with the stress of survival can feel that there is a process for a permanent solution based on the 1967 UN borders.
On sending military equipment to operations outside Greece, he said: “Our country has fiscal constraints and the way it contributes to wider geopolitical needs, outside of our borders, must be tailored to our capabilities. In this context, I explained that I am not in favour of sending defense equipment to third countries but in favor of providing whatever other humanitarian and supportive assistance we can offer.”
On the cancellation of the meeting with the director of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) he said: “Since it has become apparent that, despite the objections and urgings of both the government here in Washington and many governments in Europe, Israel is not willing to de-escalate the situation and, instead, it will react we will have further escalation, obviously this is something that I also considered for the timing of this meeting. It’s not a meeting that would send the right message at this time.
SOURCE; ANA-MPA
