Athens thanks Erotokritou twins, Chinese citizens for masks

Greek twins Marianna and Sofia Erotokritou this week delivered the last batch of thousands of protective face masks purchased with donations made by Chinese citizens to assist Greece in its battle against Covid-19, they told Xinhua on Wednesday.

The twins, who have been living and studying in China since 2013 and have become informal ambassadors of Sino-Greek friendship, were received by Greek Tourism Minister Haris Theocharis and Deputy Tourism Minister Manos Konsolas on Monday.

The last batch of 2,800 masks were part of the 10,000 masks they had bought with the support of their Chinese friends on social media after launching a campaign via WeChat, a Chinese multipurpose messaging, social media and mobile payment app developed by Tencent, this spring.

Theocharis thanked the sisters and the Chinese donors for the masks, which will be distributed to Tourism Ministry employees across Greece, according to an e-mailed press release issued by the ministry.

“I would like to thank all those people who were mobilized in China, a country so far away from here, for their precious and moving aid,” the minister said.

Theocharis also said that the twins will be formally appointed “Ambassadors of Greek Tourism in China” in acknowledgment of their efforts to promote Greece in China, once the Greek Parliament passes the relevant bill.

[Xinhua]