Greek Presidet Prokopis Pavlopoulos addressed members of the Lesbos Coast Guard during his visit to the island on Sunday. “Your example is one of civilization and humanity,” he said. “And until Europe makes its decisions, the weight falls on your shoulders but also the praise for what you do.”
Pavlopoulos directed his address to the officers present, including the crew of coast guard vessels involved in the rescue of literally thousands of refugees and migrants making the dangerous crossing from Turkey to Greece.
Earlier, the president had attended a parade held in the island’s main town of Mytilene to mark the 103rd anniversary since the island’s liberation from Ottoman Turks.
The Greek president acknowledged that Lesbos has been the “sleepless and tireless” guardian of Greek borders at a critical time for Europe.
Attended a ceremony at the University of the Aegean, where he was presented with a medal by the university’s dean, Stefanos Gritzalis, Pavlopoulos quoted a ilne from Aeschylus’ ‘Agamemnon’, expressing hope that “we will soon stop ‘seeing the Aegean flowering with corpses'”.