In a warm atmosphere, the Prime Minister met with the Paralympians and the members of the Greek delegation that participated in the Paris Paralympic Games and won 13 medalsin the Maximos Palace.

The Prime Minister congratulated the athletes and spoke with them, the escorts and the coaches of the national team, who shared with him their experiences from the Games.

“Your presence here today is truly very moving. I want to thank you for taking the trouble to come and say a very big “thank you” for everything you do not only in the games, which you do every day.

With many of you we have had the opportunity to talk before, but I think that the Olympiad is always the culmination of a very big effort for everyone, for each one of you, for you, for your companions, your coaches, your caregivers, the physical therapists. And the fact that you return from this Olympiad with many smiles, with many medals, but above all with the great joy of participating with the national emblem.

I had the feeling that this time, in every Paralympics there is much more interest from the people. What sometimes passes as an event that does not concern us much, this time I had the feeling that a much larger part of society watched, enjoyed and treated these games as completely equal to the normal Olympics.

But the important thing is not only to say “thank you” for what you did, it is also to see what we can do from now on. As you know, for the first time the country has acquired a comprehensive and comprehensive strategy for the issues of people with disabilities since 2020, with its obvious manifestations in sports as well.

It’s something we’re proud of. We have made strides, we have more to do, but I think that for the first time these issues which have always been horizontal, you know, and were distributed among many different Ministries, at least they now have an overall monitoring from my own office, with policy implementation at the level Ministries, in various subjects“, said the Prime Minister.

“With Mr. Kapellakis as the President of the Hellenic Paralympic Committee and with all the athletes and the children and their companions, all this time we have a cooperation which I think has a positive sign. And at every level they ask for help, if and as long as we can as the Ministry of Sports, we always give it, through the government“, pointed out the Deputy Minister of Education, Religions and Sports Yannis Vroutsis.

“The Paralympic sport of our country has contributed beyond the sporting level, it has contributed to changing our society. We must continue this transformation that sport offers to our society in many ways“, stressed the President of the Hellenic Paralympic Committee George Kapellakis.

During the meeting, the Paralympians raised the issue of the appointments of the distinguished athletes, which is normally valid as a right but has been delayed for many years. The appointments in question still concern those who secured the right with their distinctions in 2012. The Prime Minister acknowledged the problem and pledged to resolve it immediately.

In addition, the initiative of the Ministry was discussed, with the formation of 17 committees headed by a Paralympic athlete, as well as the supervised National Sports Centers throughout the country, to ensure the absolute accessibility of the disabled in them.