Athens, 30 June 2009

In answer to a journalist’s question regarding the interception of the cargo boat “Arion”, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mr. Gregory Delavekouras stated the following:

“As we said in the past, every legal activity of non-governmental organizations should be free. At the same time, we had promptly informed as to the serious security dangers that an attempt to enter the secure military naval zone designated by Israel around Gaza would entail.

As soon as we were informed on the interception of the Greek-registered ship “Arion”, which had no Greek citizens onboard, we made a demarche to the Israeli side in which we request that the vessel, its crew and passengers be set free immediately.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to monitor the issue closely, taking all the appropriate actions.”