The renovated "Seferis" building of the Consulate General of Greece in Korçë was inaugurated today by Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis, together with the Foreign Minister of Albania Igli Hasani.

This is, as Mr. Gerapetritis said in his greeting, the building where George Seferis, diplomat, poet and later winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1963, lived and worked as consul in 1936-37. It was then owned by a Greek family and was to be purchased as a dilapidated building by the Greek state in 1998.

As he pointed out, the restoration of the building was initially supported by donations from Greeks from Korçë and all of Albania, as well as from Greece, as well as foundations and companies from the two countries. Its completion was at the expense of the Greek state.

"Yorgos Seferis was inspired by his stay here and certainly the tenure here of a humanist poet of global renown is an honor for the city. A city that has always had the primacy in letters within the Albanian space, both in Greek and Albanian," he noted.

"The Greek-Albanian school "Homer", the "Plato" Lyceum, as well as the "Aristotle" Greek language tutoring center, constitute a continuation of the presence of Greek letters in Korçë, in the tradition of the once famous Baggio Gymnasium, for which the Greek State will not cease to care," he stated characteristically.

He referred to the case of Sotir Papahristo, to whom we owe the Albanian translations of most of the works of ancient Greek drama, and who received his formal education and then worked for a number of years in this city, Korçë. “A truly brilliant example of Greek-Albanian osmosis in the intellectual sphere.”

"Our embassies and consulates are the image of Greece abroad. The new building of the consulate general in Korçë is part of the efforts we have been making over the last two years at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to upgrade, throughout the world, the building facilities of our Authorities, as well as of course to digitize consular services. It is practical proof that our concern is to strengthen relations between the Greek diaspora and the motherland," he pointed out.

"In today's world, the challenges to freedom and peace are many," he stressed. "We start with our neighbors and we make sure to promote good neighborly relations."

"As neighboring and friendly countries, Greece and Albania, we prioritize the stability and prosperity of our wider region, both through the development of our bilateral relations, but also through the promotion of regional cooperation. Border revisionist policies are now a thing of the past."

He also thanked the Albanian foreign Minister for his presence at the inauguration, which, as he said, sends an important message, while noting that his presence "at the Albanian ministry Of foreign affairs has substantially helped to upgrade relations between our two countries."

"Today, here in Korçë, the Greek national minority unites us. And it continues to constitute, as it has for centuries, the bridge of communication and understanding between the two peoples," he concluded.