ATHENS — "The government warmly congratulates Joe Biden on his election to the presidency of the United States of America," government spokesman Stelios Petsas said on Monday during a press briefing.

"As Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has already said he is a true friend of Greece and it is certain that under his presidency the relations between our countries, which are already excellent, will become even stronger. We look forward to working together to strengthen bilateral ties of friendship and cooperation and to bring peace and stability to the region with full respect for international law and the law of the sea," he added.

On the pandemic, he said: "We are already going through the first days of the new lockdown. Once again, the prime minister wanted us to act sooner rather than later," he said and underlined: "The goal is to prevent the worst. To save lives and not let the health system reach its limits."

Petsas also added that the goal is to reverse the inreasing trends, to lower the epidemiological curves and to create conditions that will allow us to have more regular holidays at Christmas, with a better and safer operation of the market that is necessary for all citizens, entrepreneurs and consumers.

As the government spokesman said "once again our individual responsibility and our collective maturity will be crucial so that the lockdown remains on the three-week schedule announced. Let's follow the measures. Let us not constantly look for reasons to bypass them. Let's stay away from friends and relatives for a while. Therefore, individual responsibility but also state vigilance in order to ensure the observance of the measuress are needed."

Petsas stressed that "the controls throughout the implementation of the lockdown will be intensive and deviations from the observance of the measures will not be tolerated."