US President Barack Obama was attending an official dinner in his honor on Tuesday evening at Athens’ presidential mansion, hours after concluding meetings with the country’s president and prime minister.
Although a massive security blanket was in effect in central Athens and along the routes where Obama’s nearly 30-vehicle convoy is expected pass, at least one group of demonstrators tried to unsuccessfully break through a police cordon a couple of blocks from Parliament to reach the US embassy, nearly two kilometers away.
In greeting the outgoing US president, Pavlopoulos touched on the symbolism entailed in the Parthenon, atop the Acropolis, which Obama will visit on Wednesday, while again bringing up the refugee issue and Greece’s efforts during the economic crisis.
"Mr. President, I welcome you as the president of the United States who supported the idea of respect for humanity and defense of democracy," Pavlopoulos said in opening the dinner, attended by 130 guests.
The Greek president called for an end to the war in Syria, stressing that the United States and Russia should work together towards this goal in harmony.
“Secondly, the Greek people have paid a huge economic price that they are not responsible for, but one that is the result of wrong policies. Despite this cost, the people remain in the EU and in the Euro zone’s core,” he said.
