The residents of Athens witnessed a spectacular sight on Sunday night. The sky was lit up with the colours of blue and white ahead of Greek Independence Day on March 25.
— 📢Αρης🚬🥃 (@arisasimak) March 24, 2024
As the regional governor of Attica, Nikos Hardalias, announced, "In an impressive way, we highlight and honour the Greeks who fought with courage and self-sacrifice, writing stories of heroism and self-sacrifice. Nothing was given to us! Greece became a Free State, spreading the message of the Struggle for National Independence throughout the World with the slogan 'For Faith and Fatherland'."
Το βράδυ της Κυριακής, λίγα λεπτά μετά τις 21:00, όσοι βρεθείτε στο κέντρο της Αθήνας, κοιτάξτε ψηλά! Φωτίζουμε τον Αθηναϊκό ουρανό!
Με έναν εντυπωσιακό τρόπο, αναδεικνύουμε και τιμούμε τους Έλληνες που αγωνίστηκαν με θάρρος και αυταπάρνηση, γράφοντας ιστορίες ηρωισμού και… pic.twitter.com/gPR7vYaL3A
— Nikos Hardalias (@nhardalias) March 23, 2024
President on Greek Independence Day: Consensus, unity key parts of national struggles
The anniversary of Greece's historic declaration of war for independence on March 25 is "a celebration of all Greeks that will always draw up a sense of liberation, independence, and justice," Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou said in a message on Sunday.
The Greek uprising against the 400-year Ottoman rule in 1821 garnered the admiration of the world, she said. The anniversary also calls for its timeless message, "that passion and self-denial may be the key ingredient of every national effort, but the guarantee of its success lies with consensus, unity, and agreement, as recorded by the herculean struggle of the heroic revolutionaries against an all-powerful empire," she said.
Sakellaropoulou also noted that this year is the 50th anniversary of the restoration of democracy in Greece following the military dictatorship, while she also said that Greece is not forgetting Cyprus, as a part remains under Turkish occupation.
In a world of multiple speeds and uncertainties, continuous crisis, wars, and divisive speech, the Greek president added, Greece's challenge today is "to defend, with the contribution of all of us, the ideals of freedom, human rights and democracy, which we secured with struggles and sacrifices in our long history, as we did our unnegotiable national sovereignty."
Athenians head out of the city for March 25 weekend
Outbound traffic from Athens leaving for the long weekend of Greek Independence Day (March 25) began on Friday and continued to Saturday, Greek police said.
Traffic police in particular said that 82,027 left Attica from 06:00 on Friday to 06:00 on Saturday. Of these, 37,311 left through the Athens-Lamia highway and 44,716 through the Athens-Corinth highway.
Additional police measures have been taken for the outgoing traffic that include increased policing at road networks.
On Monday (March 25), during which incoming traffic to Athens is expected to increase, trucks over 3.5 tons in gross weight will not be allowed on the highways from 15:00 to 21:00.
READ MORE: The National Symbols of Greece: Flag, Emblem and Anthem.
