Greek President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos on Thursday sent a telegram to King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden expressing his condolences for the tragic loss of Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh.

 Prime Minister Costas Simitis on Thursday sent his condolences to his Swedish counterpart Goran Persson, expressing his deep sorrow over the assassination of the country's foreign minister Anna Lindh on Wednesday.
  "I am deeply moved by the tragic loss of Foreign Minister Anna Lindh; let me express, in the name of the Greek government and myself personally, the warmest condolences to you and your government,'' Simitis said.
  ''Anna Lindh was truly a European personality, which contributed significantly to the development of Europe and served with courage the interests of her country. Allow me, Mr. Prime  Minister, to convey the deep sentiment of true sorrow to the family and be sure that during these moments of mourning our thoughts are with the Swedish people,'' he noted.

  On his part, main opposition New Democracy (ND) leader Costas Karamanlis in his letter to Persson also stressed his deep sympathy for the Swedish people and underlined that the assassination of Lindh was an attack against European values, open society and democracy itself.
  He also expressed a hope that Lindh's legacy will be vindicated.
  ''As the leader of a party that has suffered in the past by the terror of illogical violence, I wish you every success in your effort to strengthen the role of Sweden in the future,'' he noted.

  Also, the Coalition of the Left, Movements and Ecology (Synaspismos) leader Nikos Constantopoulos expressed his condolences to the Lindh's family, the Swedish people and the country's government.

In a telegram to his Swedish counterpart on Thursday, Parliament Speaker Apostolos Kaklamanis expressed the Greek Parliament's condolences over the ''horrific fact'' of the murder of Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh.
 He said that Lindh had been a ''particularly highly respected political personality in Europe and had made a decisive contribution to developments within the EU''.

FM Papandreou expresses sorrow over death of Swedish counterpart Lindh: Greece's visiting foreign minister George Papandreou on Thursday expressed sorrow over the sudden death of his Swedish counterpart Anna Lindh early in the morning after being stabbed by an unidentified man in a Stockholm department store on Wednesday.
   After being informed of Lindh's death during a ceremony at which he was honored by the municipality of Strovolos, Papandreou called for a minute of silence in her memory, and urged for solidarity with the people of Sweden, "a people who have fought for democracy and who stood by our side when many Greeks found themselves exiled in Sweden" during the 7-year military dictatorship in Greece.
   Recalling that he had met with Lindh on Tuesday in Stockholm when the two foreign ministers had visited Swedish schools and spoke at a rally in support of a 'yes' vote in the upcoming referendum for Sweden's accession to the Eurozone, Papandreou stressed that Anna Lindh had also fought for Cyprus' accession to the EU, and noted the close friendly relationship they had built as colleagues within the framework of the EU.
   Lindh died early Thursday following prolonged surgery after being stabbed by an unidentified man in a Stockholm department store on Wednesday. A leading campaigner for Sweden to join the euro zone in a referendum on Sunday, and tipped as a future prime minister, she was stabbed in the chest, stomach and arms while shopping.   

Source: Athens News Agency

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