Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis attended the ceremony held at Athens Airport for receiving sanitary supplies donated by China to Greece to aid our country with its urgent needs in its battle against the coronavirus.
Eight tons of medical supplies arrived on a special Air China flight, including 550,000 surgical and medical masks, medical protective clothing, protective glasses, disposable medical gloves and medical shoe covers, which will be distributed immediately to the country’s medical centres.
At the brief ceremony, which took place at the airport and complied with all safety measures, the Greek government was also represented by Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias, Deputy Minister of State Giorgos Gerapetritis, Energy and Environment Minister Kostas Chatzidakis, and the Foreign Ministry’s Secretary General for International Economic Relations and Openness, Grigoris Dimitriadis.
The Chinese side was represented by the Chinese Ambassador to Athens, Zhang Qiyue, who expressed Chinas support, quoting, among other things, Aristotle’s observation that “Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies,” which was written in ancient Greek in the message accompanying the medical supplies.
In statements to the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), the Alternate Minister stressed that “it is very important that we have this cooperation, with China providing this assistance that we need.” “The government,” he noted, “has sent a clear message, and from the very outset Kyriakos Mitsotakis informed citizens of the measures they must take. It is important that we realise the risk we can pose to ourselves and those around us. So, if we don’t do the right thing, in the end we’ll have many more cases and mourn many more victims in this crisis. It’s not an easy battle. It’s not a battle that will end tomorrow morning. It is a battle that requires composure and endurance – and, above all, restraint on the part of citizens. I think that so far – judging from what’s happening in other European countries – we have managed to stay a step ahead. Let’s remain mindful so that our society can maintain the advantage it has gained in dealing with this virus.”
He added that “our efforts to acquire personal protective equipment will not end with the arrival of this flight or this shipment. We will try to establish other inflows of supplies. But I think this really is a big relief, especially for the country’s healthcare professionals – having an adequate supply of personal protective equipment for a reasonable amount of time.”
Asked about a possible ban on movement, he responded that the government will not have to resort to such measures if we all behave responsibly and we stop seeing things like yesterday’s heavy traffic at toll stations and on ferry boats.
The shipment of medical supplies was arranged in cooperation with Greece’s Independent Power Transmission Operator (ADMHE) and the State Grid Corporation of China.
March 21, 2020