A time of responsibility

Christos Harpantidis Papastratos Chairman and CEO

The new coronavirus continues to expand around the planet, focusing now on Europe. The planet, including our country, is in quarantine. Humanity is facing a threat that resembles something out of a science-fiction movie. The only difference is that it is real. Besides forcing us into a battle against an “invisible enemy,” as the pandemic was aptly described by the prime minister, the crisis of the coronavirus has revealed a Greece that was unknown to us until yesterday: a country where the vast majority of citizens act responsibly to protect the lives of their own families and their fellow man; where bold and swift policy decisions are made that place human life above all else; with respect for businesses and recognition of the key role they play in supporting and serving citizens; where continuous and transparent information is provided that utilizes scientific and professional knowledge from both the public and private sectors; where the relationship between the two sectors at this critical time is unifying, effective and without blinkers; with complete flexibility that ensures compliance with the law, but also overcomes bureaucratic deadlocks. It may be the irony of luck but, in these dark times, we are finding the Greece we were looking for. A country that, without terms and conditions, puts the collective before the individual.

It is the responsibility of all of us to honor and support it. Not only today, when we need it more than ever, but also the day after the pandemic, when the country will need us to raise it again and heal all the wounds that the virus had opened.