The Greek Government has donated 200,000 vaccines to Libya to address the Covid-19 pandemic. Greece is the first country to donate vaccines to Libya, which were transported today on a special flight of the Hellenic Air Force and handed over to the Libyan Government in an official ceremony held at the Tripoli International Airport.
The Greek Government was represented by Mr. Ioannis Smyrlis, Secretary General for International Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Mr. Marios Themistocleous, Secretary General for Primary Health Care at the Ministry of Health. Libyan Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Omar Mohammed Saleh, welcomed the Greek delegation and received the donation.
During the ceremony for the delivery of the vaccines, Mr. Ioannis Smyrlis expressed Greece’s readiness to assist the Libyan people with the necessary vaccines and other means needed to address the pandemic, confirming Greece’s return to the region and the efforts undertaken by the Greek Government for the recovery of Libya.
The donation was made following the visit of Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Fragogiannis, and the Secretary General, Mr. Smyrlis, to Tripoli and Benghazi on July 4 and 5, and after the inauguration of the Greek Consulate General in Benghazi, the first one to reopen in the city after the cessation of hostilities.
Within the next two months, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs further plans to organize a business mission and to participate with a national pavilion dedicated to the construction materials and food sectors, as a practical demonstration of the political and economic importance Greece attaches to the development of excellent bilateral relations at all levels.