Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met today with the President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, at Maximos Mansion.
“I am truly excited that you are here today, in light of these different Olympics, and I am very interested to hear your thoughts about how things are going to develop. As you know, we have made big progress in terms of all our international commitments,” the Prime Minister said while welcoming Mr Bach.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis referred to the progress and the approbation of the vaccination campaign in Greece. “At the beginning, when we started this process, we didn’t have the approval rates for vaccines that we have today, however, since then it has ballooned, as there is a professionalism that permeates the vaccination process. And everyone who has received the jab is very pleased with the overall experience”.
“Thank you very much for your warm welcome. I think that our meeting is symbolic,” Mr Bach said. “We last met at the very beginning of the pandemic and now we meet again towards its end. We see light at the end of the tunnel and as regards the Tokyo Games. Heartfelt congratulations on the bicentennial which you celebrated last week”.
Mr Bach stressed that the torch relay for the Tokyo Olympic Games started on that very day, March 25, as a demonstration of the connection with Greece. Last night, Mr Bach inaugurated the new lighting of the Panathenaic Stadium, wishing that the lights “illuminate the new spirit of Olympism”.
During the meeting, Mr Bach congratulated Greece for timely making all the arrangements so that the preparation of the Greek Olympic team for the Tokyo Games would not be interrupted because of the pandemic. He was also informed of the profound renewal taking place in the administrative bodies of sports federations and he pointed out that this aligns with the principles of good governance of the Olympic Committee. The Greek side underscored that its top priority is compliance with the code of conduct of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
The meeting was also attended by the Minister of State George Gerapetritis, the Deputy Minister of Culture and Sports Lefteris Avgenakis and the President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, Spyros Kapralos.
