ATHENS – The meaning of Easter and its promise for the future, but also the war in Ukraine, were contained in messages by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and political party leaders on Sunday, Greek Orthodox Easter.

PM Mitsotakis reiterated the promise that the Greek state will continue to support citizens and businesses during the price hikes. He also noted that Greeks are united in celebrating Easter. “It is this unity that allowed us to overcome national challenges, the pandemic, and all the trials and tribulations that preceded them,” the premier said, “so we can now celebrate for the first time away from the threat of the coronavirus, which is receding.”

He also spoke of the Ukrainian people, besieged yet free, “who continue to be attacked by Russian invaders who share their religion,” and of the war’s repercussions throughout Europe.

“Easter is a celebration of hope,” main opposition leader Alexis Tsipras said in his message, for a better future. The country is facing the crises of the coronavirus pandemic and price hikes, which along with the war in Ukraine make the future look bleak, the SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance leader said. Yet, throughout their history, “the Greek people have known how to discover the path to resurrection – to turn calgary into a new start. This new start is what this year’s Easter signifies,” he stressed.

PASOK-Movement for Change (KINAL) leader Nikos Androulakis spoke of the ongoing war in Ukraine, the pandemic, and the inequalities created by the new energy crisis and the price hikes in basic goods. “In this dismal environment, we ought to responsibly build a different future, with more opportunities for younger generations, more justice, and more dignity.”

In his message, Communist Party of Greece Secretary General Dimitris Koutsoubas said, “From the daily calgary of high cost of living, of crises, of war, let us achieve the people’s uplifting and resurrection, since it is only the people who can save the people!”

Jesus Christ’s Crucifixion and Resurrection to save humanity is a message of hope, Greek Solution leader Kyriakos Velopoulos said in his Easter message. “Our faith determines that this hope must not be lost,” Velopoulos stressed.

“Last year at Easter, we prayed for the end of the pandemic which claimed and still of course claims our kin, friends, acquaintances, fellow-citizens,” MeRA25 Secretary Yanis Varoufakis said. “This year, religious or not, we all pray for something else – the end of the war that kills our fellow human beings, that sinks the majority into poverty, worsens famine in Africa and Asia, and brings everyone closer – humanity closer – to climate catastrophe.” Life however is “indomitable, and resurrects the hope that the light wins just when the darkness is thicker,” Varoufakis noted.