A last farewell to Costas Simitis at the Athens Metropolitan Cathedral

Friends, family, politicians and representatives of foreign delegations bid their last farewell to former Greek premier Costas Simitis at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens on Thursday, alongside many ordinary citizens who wished to pay their last respects to the former prime minister.

The funeral service was officiated by Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece. Eulogies were delivered by the President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, main opposition PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis, as well as professors Yannis Voulgaris, Tasos Giannitsis (former minister) and PASOK spokesperson Konstantinos Tsoukalas.

After the conclusion of the funeral service, the flag-draped coffin of the former prime minister was carried out of the Cathedral to applause by the crowd and the funeral procession departed on foot for the first cemetery of Athens, with a short stop in front of the parliament. The ceremony is to be concluded with the rendering of honours and the firing of three shots.

Sakellaropoulou: We say goodbye to a major  figure of our contemporary history

“Today, we sorrowfully and with honour say farewell to a major figure of our contemporary history,” stated President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou on Thursday, during her eulogy at the funeral of former prime minister Costas Simitis at the Athens Metropolitan Cathedral.

Sakellaropolou underlined that “Costas Simitis defended democracy and its principles steadfastly and with conviction, passion and reason, through words and deeds, throughout his life. He fought against the dictatorship, he was a distinguished academic and teacher, a man of ideas and practical reason, who left his deep mark on the post dictatorship era with his own distinct and timeless political example.” Speaking about his work, she noted that “with European social democracy and the reformist wave as his guiding principles, Costas Simitis introduced into our political consciousness and culture a new method and perception of governance. He focused on rationality, planning, commitment to high goals and the ethics of duty, on low-key, daily and systematic work. He steered clear of popular but cheap rhetoric and easy populism, with a moderate and measured speech and a democratic ethos”.

Mitsotakis: An opponent of the dictatorship and a steadfast advocate of democracy

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis described Simitis as “an opponent of the dictatorship and a steadfast advocate of democracy,” while delivering his funeral address on Thursday.

Mitsotakis spoke of a “noble adversary,” whose institutional position demanded that he be honored as he deserves, adding: “Our parties succeeded in coming together at two critical milestones: Greece’s accession to the euro and Cyprus’ entry into the EU.”

The prime minister stated that Costas Simitis now belongs to history and referred to three legacies of the deceased that are already visible: The first was “his unwavering faith in the European orientation and his constant effort to bring Greece closer to the most developed states of Europe.”

The second was his way of governing and the methodical recording of the priorities that had to be turned into action, based on planning, careful work and control, aiming for measurable results. The third legacy, according to the prime minister, was that in addition to his involvement in politics, he always found time to read, to listen to music, to go to the theatre, and that he loved the role of a simple husband and father.

Greece honours the prime minister who ‘made a strong Greece within Europe reality’

Greece honours the prime minister who “made a strong Greece within Europe reality and left an indelible mark on the post-junta history of the country,” main opposition PASOK-KINAL leader Nikos Androulakis said on Thursday in his eulogy for Costas Simitis. “The country’s political world is diminished, as it has lost a great personality of international stature, who creatively and with sound arguments enriched the public debate,” Androulakis said, delivering his eulogy at the funeral of the former prime minister at the Athens Metropolitan Cathedral.

“Simitis had identified early on the historical roots of the state’s maladies and had shaped the political vision for overcoming them,” he added.

Listing the former premier’s accomplishments, Androulakis noted that the Simitis had succeeded in turning Greece into a country with national self-confidence, social justice and extroversion, adding that Simitis “strove for these values and rallied a large social majority around the political vision of reform… while giving it a clearly progressive content, as his works attest, long before the words lost their real meaning.” “Costas Simitis helped to shape history and was an equal interlocutor of the world’s most powerful leaders, someone who always knew how to win with his credibility and realism,” Androulakis emphasised.

Source: pagenews.gr