CHANIA, Greece — Greece must call on the same virtues that impressed the world in 1940 with its stance against the Axis when facing current challenges, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said from Crete on Wednesday, national 'Ohi' Day.

Visiting the crew of submarine 'Katsonis' at the Souda Bay base in Chania, western Crete, Mitsotakis referred to "national unity, high morale, a sense of solidarity – all elements that allowed Greece to pen its own heroic saga 80 years ago". These will help Greece "face the dual provocations of a challenge to our sovereignty and our sovereign rights, and the great challenge of dealing with the pandemic," he said.

Greeks in 1940 "united to fight fascism with arms. Eighty years later, they defeated it with the state of law and the power of our democracy, sending those nostalgic for fascism and nazism to jail," the premier said, noting that today's challenges are different.

"I am absolutely confident that with a sense of unity, high personal and social sense of responsibility and collectivity, we shall be able to manage this crisis as well and become victors once again," Mitsotakis underlined.