ATHENS – President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou elected to spend Epiphany on the remote island of Gavdos, at the southernmost extreme of the European Union. In a highly symbolic move, she highlighted the need to support the outermost regions of the country as symbols of a strong Greece.

The president attended a service and ceremony to bless the waters at a chapel in Karave harbour and afterwards gave a speech stressing the need to support the islanders that preserved and cared for this “beautiful cradle of Hellenism”.

During her stay on the island, President Sakellaropoulou was named an honorary citizen of Gavdos as a sign of respect for the first Greek woman to hold the supreme office of the Greek state, in a special ceremony at the municipal office of the island.