ATHENS – A visit by Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias to Rwanda was aimed at showing interest in having foreign policy objectives in sub-Saharan Africa, the source of many migrants coming to Greece.

It was the first time a Greek foreign chief went to a country which had one of the worst atrocities, where in just 100 days in 1994, about 800,000 people were slaughtered by ethnic Hutu extremists.

Diplomatic sources not named told Kathimerini that Dendias noted that Greece, unlike other European countries, had no Colonial past in Africa and that there are Greek communities across the continent.

“We have decided that we want to strengthen our relations with African countries, because, among other things, Africa will be the driving force of the world. Some of the fastest growing economies are located on this beautiful continent. We, Greece, do not have a colonial past and consequently we do not have a similar history,” Dendias stressed, the paper said.

Two memoranda of cooperation were signed on political consultations and cooperation between the diplomatic academies, renewing the relevant bilateral agreements for the first time since 1986.

Greece‘s gateway to Africa should be Rwanda, Dendias insisted, as it serves as an example in many ways. “Rwanda has recovered from one of the worst genocides in human history, a genocide that remains alive in the memory of many of us. Rwanda has become a model of reconciliation, reconstruction and national unity worldwide,” he said.

Dendias was accompanied in Kigali by the Greek Health Ministry’s General Secretary for Primary Healthcare, Marios Themistokleous, as Greece donated 330,000 COVID-19 vaccines while it’s been struggling to convince Greeks to get their shots.