Greek Independence Day celebrations eclipsed by pandemic

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Parliament Speaker Konstantinos Tasoulas, SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras, Movement for Change leader Fofi Gennimata and Communist Party leader Dimitris Koutsoumbas (l to r) on Wednesday attended a brief ceremony to mark Greece’s Independence Day at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside Parliament. The usual crowds were absent from the ceremony – and politicians stood a safe distance apart – amid a lockdown imposed by the government to contain the spread of the coronavirus. President Katerina Sakellaropoulou laid a wreath at the monument as Hellenic Air Force fighter jets and Navy helicopters flew over Syntagma Square. [Yannis Kolesidis/Reuters]