[InTime News]
State and political leaders have marked the approach of Christmas by listening to traditional carols and melodies from various regions of Greece and Pontus.
At the Presidential Mansion, the ceremony opened with the Armed Forces Band, followed by the Presidential Guard performing traditional Christmas carols.
President Konstantinos Tassoulas and his wife, Fani Stathopoulou, then heard performances of carols and traditional dances by the Traditional Dance Department of the Municipality of Ioannina, the Christian Youth Brotherhood of Athens, the choir of the Association of Employees of the Hellenic Parliament and pupils from the 2nd and 3rd Primary Schools of Holargos.
At the Maximos Mansion, students from the Alimos Music School and the Konstantinos Kanaris Cultural Association of Eretria sang carols for Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his family.
Main opposition PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis welcomed carol singers at his party’s headquarters, with performances by the Panepirotic Confederation of Greece and the Kougi Epiriot Dance Association of Agios Dimitrios. In a statement, Androulakis said that inequalities are increasing and opportunities for the younger generation are diminishing, leading to a continued outflow of skilled human capital abroad.
Communist Party leader Dimitris Koutsoubas received members of the Kerasovo Brotherhood of Agia Paraskevi, Konitsa, and the Nikos Filippidis Band at the KKE headquarters in Perissos. He said the party’s thoughts were with protesting workers and farmers who, he noted, are “paving the way” for the future of the Greek people.
