Prime Minister George Papandreou is in Israel on an official visit (21-22.7). Meeting with the Israeli President, Shimon Peres, Papandreou said he was pleased to be visiting Peres in his double capacity as President of the Socialist International and as Prime Minister of Greece.

"It is important that we develop the bilateral cooperation, the regional cooperation in the broader region of Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East," he added. The Greek side is interested in promoting bilateral cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, and technology.

Following his talks with Peres, the premier visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and met with the Jerusalem Patriarch Theophilos III, who decorated Papandreou with the Cross of the Holy Sepulchre.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Greece-Israel Bilateral Relations