It was with sadness that I learned of the death of the former Prime Minister of Greece, Costas Simitis, President Nikos Christodoulides said on Sunday.

Simitis, prime minister between from January 1996 to March 2004, died in the early hours of Sunday morning while holidaying in his summer residence close to Athens in the Peloponnese.

Simitis was a prominent, leading figure both as a fighter against the dictatorship in Greece and during the transition to democracy.

“As Prime Minister of Greece together, and in full and excellent cooperation, with the late Cyprus President Glafkos Clerides, they led Cyprus to its greatest achievement since 1960, the decision to join the EU in December 2002,” Christodoulides said.

As Prime Minister of Greece during the Greek presidency of the EU in the first half of 2003, Athens signed the accession of ten new members to the union, including Cyprus.

“His mild political discourse, far from populism, and his political activity were based on a constant philosophy of modernisation and reforms,” Christodoulides said.

He added that Simitis will have a special place in the history of modern Greece and Hellenism, as well as in the memory of Cypriot Hellenism.

“On behalf of the government, myself and the people of Cyprus, I express my sincere condolences to the Greek people and the relatives of the deceased,” Christodoulides said.

Simitis visited Cyprus many times, including in April 2003 shortly after the island had joined the EU.

In his book Policy for a Creative Greece, he wrote that the top moment of emotion for him was this visit to Nicosia and the expressions of enthusiasm with which he was embraced by the Cypriot people.

Political parties also expressed their condolences.

“It is with sadness and respect that the leadership, MPs and members of the Democratic Rally bid farewell to Costas Simitis,” Disy said calling him a “prominent figure in the transition to democracy”.

Dipa described him as “one of the most important political leaders of the modern history of Greece who served his country with dedication, responsibility and vision”.