Foreign Ministry spokesperson Konstantinos Koutras made a statement regarding the desecration of a commemorative plaque dedicated to the death of 13,000 Greek Jewish children murdered during the Holocaust. The memorial, next to a playground on Pafou Square, in central Athens, was defaced with Swastikas and Nazi SS signs.

“We express our outrage at this offensive and bigoted act of desecrating a monument that is dedicated to the memory of innocent victims of the horror of Nazism and fascism; to the memory of Greek children of Jewish descent. This barbaric act is an affront to Greek society, and we condemn it unequivocally. The Greek government and the whole of Greek society express their solidarity with our Jewish fellow citizens and stand together with them in the common struggle for more tolerance, for eradication of intolerance and racism, and for the marginalization of the isolated elements who cultivate hatred and divisiveness within Greek society.”