Greece’s President Katerina Sakellaropoulou on Friday sent messages of support and solidarity to the people of France and Spain and expressed her deep sorrow for the victims of the pandemic.
The President’s messages were conveyed to the French Ambassador to Greece, Patrick Maisonnave by the General Secretary of the Greek Presidency, Ambassador Vassilios Papadopoulos.
Mr Papadopoulos also asked the French Ambassador to relay the solidarity of the president and the Greek people to French President Emmanuel Macron, as well as her sincere condolences to the victims' families.
In her social media message to Spain, the Greek President expressed her solidarity to the Spanish for their ordeal with the coronavirus pandemic, assuring them that "with solidarity and strength we shall overcome this together."
Her message on Twitter read, "Con solidaridad y fuerza lo superaremos todos juntos / With solidarity and strength we shall overcome this together," in Spanish and Greek."
The tweet was accompanied by a photograph of the Greek Parliament flying the Spanish flag in solidarity by the Greek people to the Spanish.
Con solidaridad y fuerza lo superaremos todos juntos/Με αλληλεγγύη και δύναμη θα το ξεπεράσουμε όλοι μαζί. 🇬🇷🤝🇪🇸 https://t.co/ln8jxdbL6W
— President GR (@PresidencyGR) April 10, 2020
The flag-raising ceremony was attended by Spanish Ambassador to Greece Enrique Viguera, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, his alternate Miltiadis Varvitsiotis and Parliament speaker Konstatinos Tassoulas.
“You are not alone,” Dendias said at the flag-raising ceremony, addressing the people of Spain. “The thoughts of everyone in Greece are with you in this battle, which we shall win together.”
“Our grief is profound as more than 15,000 of our fellow countrymen have lost their lives to this virus… But Spain is not giving up hope. Another 15,000 people have been cured, the biggest number in the world after China. And recent data show we may be entering a new phase during which the number of infections and deaths is stabilizing and even dropping, while the number of cured continues to rise,” said Viguera.
