Nicosia: Costas Simitis, as Prime Minister of Greece, together and in full cooperation with the late President of the Republic Glafkos Clerides, led Cyprus to its greatest achievement since 1960, the decision to join the EU in December 2002 in Copenhagen, President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulides said in a written statement for the passing of former Greek Premier at the age of 88.
According to Cyprus News Agency, the deceased will have a special place in the memory of the Greek Cypriots. The President noted that he was informed of the passing of former Prime Minister with sadness and described him as a prominent, leading figure both as a fighter against the dictatorship in Greece and during the transition to democracy.
He mentioned that as Prime Minister of Greece during the EU Greek Presidency in the first half of 2003, Simitis signed in April 2003 in Athens the accession of ten new members, including Cyprus, together with the late President Tassos Papadopoulos.
President Christodoulides stated that Simitis had a mild political language, far from populism, and his political actions were based on a lasting philosophy of modernization and reforms. He also highlighted Simitis’s excellence as a university professor in Greece and Germany.
The President emphasized that for all these contributions, Simitis will rightly have a special place in the history of modern Greece and Hellenism, as well as in the memory of Cypriot Hellenism. He conveyed his sincere condolences on behalf of the Government, himself, and the people of Cyprus to the Greek people and the relatives of the deceased.