CONSTANTINE AN. TASSOULAS: Your Royal Highness Princess Anne, it is with great pleasure that I welcome you today to the Presidential Mansion, you and your husband, Sir Timothy Lawrence, on the occasion of your visit to Greece to attend the 85th anniversary of the Battle of Crete.
As you obviously are aware, the Battle of Crete played a significant role in World War II. The British and the Greeks share common memories of that battle, our peoples took part in that battle against the Nazi invasion of the island of Crete. And this memory remains with us even today, so your presence there will honor the resistance and defense, of Greeks and British jointly, against that Nazi invasion 85 years ago on the island of Crete.
In your capacity as President of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, you will have the opportunity to visit the Allied War Cemetery in Chania, Crete. Your visit there will give you the opportunity to witness the extent of the comradeship between our peoples, not only during that period, but also afterwards. And today it brings our two peoples, our two countries, closer together in the context of our struggle for the prevalence of world peace and international law, as well as the safeguarding of security in Europe.
But your other duties, which you serve in an admirable manner, also connect our two countries. You are the President of the British Olympic Association and a member of the International Olympic Committee, and this capacity brings us closer together once again. This is where the Olympic Games were born, and the message of Olympism and the Olympic Games is very useful to be heard again today, especially given the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, so that the spirit of reconciliation and peace may prevail.
Your country, Your Royal Highness, has been a maritime power for centuries. In our time, the Greek Merchant Marine is the largest Merchant Marine in the world, therefore your other role, as President of the “Mission to Seafarers,” is especially useful and beneficial to us, because it has been serving seafarers for decades. It offers reassurance, it offers support, it offers optimism through all the resources you make available to the people of the sea.
We must therefore acknowledge that, through the various capacities that you have ably served over the years, you have formed very close ties with the country in which you find yourself today.
Therefore, I welcome you and your husband once again to Greece, and I hope that your mission and your presence here will be successful, and that you will achieve your goals.
PRINCESS ANNE (unofficial translation): I would like to thank you very much for your hospitality here. This commemoration of the 85th anniversary [of the Battle of Crete] is very important for our two countries, and of course for the Australians and the New Zealanders, but mainly for the Cretans, who suffered more than anyone else.
I have visited Greece again during the Olympic Games and, of course, later on, for the handover of the Olympic Flame ahead of the London Olympics, which was very enjoyable.
And with regard to the “Mission to Seafarers”, this is an organization that has been operating for a hundred years. It now has a presence in fifty countries around the world and offers assistance to seafarers regardless of their nationality, gender, or race. It is truly a very important movement now throughout the world.
