ATHENS – Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Thursday celebrated Epiphany on the island of Agios Efstratios, attending a service officiated by the Metropolitan Ierotheos of Limnos and Agios Efstratios and the ceremony for the blessing of the waters in the island’s harbour.

“Today, on this very important day for the Orthodox Faith, I wanted to be in remote Ai Stratis, a place with a grave history. A landmark of division and ordeals that is, however, converted to a landmark of unity and optimism,” the prime minister said in a statement after the ceremony.

He stressed the need to support Greece’s remote islands and their residents, such as Ai Stratis, which had become a pioneer in green development and “has the capacity to turn into action the vision and plans of the local community, in order to become a model island as regards the cyclical economy.”

Mitsotakis emphasised that the true meaning of Epiphany was truth, which saves, and that this was more relevant that ever at a time when Greece was experiencing a new surge of the Omicron variant and at a conjunction when the protection of human life took on a special meaning.

He expressed hope that the holiday will help bring illumination to all, especially those that still hesitated to get the vaccine against Covid-19, urging them to make “this choice of life, the choice to protect their own lives but also the safety and health of those they care for.”