In her first act as President of the Hellenic Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoullou, identified the fight against Covid-19 as a priority in a brief statement before the press at the Presidential Mansion where she was welcomed by the outgoing President Prokopis Pavlopoulos on Friday, 13 March.
The new president said: “It requires full compliance with the instructions and full implementation of the precautionary measures to prevent further transmission of the virus,” she said, adding that Covid-19 represented a “real risk for the elderly.”
She also spoke of the challenges raised by the continued tension on the border with Turkey.
“Our country is called upon to face new challenges. Repel new dangers and threats. Without stopping the struggle for economic and social reconstruction. With no discounts in democracy and the rule of law,” she said.”We must safeguard our borders while fulfilling our humanitarian duty to people who are suffering…It is a difficult but not impossible equation.”
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She added that she hoped that her election as the first female president would improve the position of women in the family and in society.
The swearing-in ceremony for the new president was a subdued affair held in a near-empty parliament building that was a reflection of the measures recently introduced to combat the spread of Covid-19 to restrict public gatherings.
The new president then resorted to Facebook to emphasise her call on Greeks to observe the preventative measures put in place to fight the spread of the Covid-19 virus.
Ms Sakellaropoulou wrote that: “The only way to protect our loved ones and our fellow citizens is to stay away of them…”
“We faithfully follow, both collectively and as individuals, the directives of the scientists and the state authorities,” she wrote, adding that “… we will succeed. With discipline and prudence, composure and optimism, we will succeed.”
