PM Mitsotakis meets with Greek Jewish officials, discusses initiatives to fight antisemitism

Initiatives to fight antisemitism were discussed at a meeting Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had with members of the Central Jewish Council of Greece on Friday, on the eve of Kristallnacht, when Jewish people and their properties were attacked in pogroms that broke out in Germany in 1938.

The Council was represented among others by its president David Saltiel and members of its board.

Mitsotakis also met on Friday with Efstathios Lianos Liantis, special secretary for Anti-Semitism and Anti-Defamation of the Holocaust. Lianos Liantis briefed the premier on Greece's adoption of the working definitions on antisemitism and Holocaust deniers by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).

The premier was also briefed on preparations before Greece assumes the IHRA presidency in 2021, which the country was invited to unanimously by the Alliance's plenary.

A statement from the premier's office added that "Greece is the first country to adopt the working definition of Holocaust denial, a landmark act." Also commenting on Greece's assumption of the IHRA presidency, Maximos Mansion said that it will coincide with the 200th anniversary of the start of Greece's War of Independence.

During its presidency, Greece will focus on promoting the 2,000-year history of Greek Jews. Mitsotakis has appointed Deputy Premier Panagiotis Pikrammenos as coordinator of the events, and of incorporating related definitions to Greek legislation and education, it said.