MONTREAL – Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias visited the Church of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, a Greek Orthodox Church in Montreal, together with his Canadian counterpart Mélanie Joly and His Eminence Archbishop of Canada Sotirios.

“A prayer was offered and a minute’s silence was observed for the victims of the accident in Tempi,” Dendias said in his post on twitter.

The Greek foreign minister said he was very proud to be, among the Greek community, among his compatriots, and to be able to see how the two worlds, the Canadian and the Greek, are being combined around the same values, around the same principles, at a lunch hosted by Greek Diaspora associations in Canada.

“For me, it is such a great pleasure to be in Canada, in Montreal today, after fruitful discussions with Mélanie. I am not returning a compliment by saying openly to all of you what is very well known, not just in Canada, but around NATO and around Europe: That Mélanie is a very promising young foreign minister who is going to excel in the years to come. We will see her all the more around the world in these very difficult times formulating policy and explaining what needs to be done in the geopolitical challenges we are facing nowadays. So for me it is a great honour to come, first of all to Ottawa, and listen to her and understand her views, the views of the Canadian government and the Canadian society,” Dendias said.