Government Vice-President and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos issued a statement on the crashing of the Malaysian Airlines aircraft saying that that incident “leaves us shocked and deeply saddened” and expressed his deep condolences to the families of the passengers and crew.

He also stressed that “we await an independent international investigation that leads to the immediate and full clarification of the conditions under which this tragic incident occurred,”.

Mr. Venizelos also stated that “In the shadow of reports that allege that the aircraft was brought down by a ground-to-air missile, we would like to repeat our calls for the finding of a peaceful solution to the crisis in eastern Ukraine, for the avoidance of actions that lead to an escalation of the tensions, and for an immediate ceasefire,”.