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Blessings Chidakwa, Harare Bureau

GREECE has thrown its weight behind Zimbabwe’s bid for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council adding its voice to several nations supporting the country including Russia.

This was revealed yesterday when Hellenic Republic (Greece) Ambassador Ms Anna Farrou and Cuba’s Ms Susellys Perez Meza presented their letters of credence to President Mnangagwa at State House.
The first to present was Ambassador designate for Greece Ms Farrou followed by Cuba’s Ms Meza.
Speaking after presenting her credentials, Ms Farrou said she was committed to uplifting the already excellent relationship between Greece and Zimbabwe.

Ambassador Farrou said apart from the bilateral co-operation that they discussed with President Mnangagwa, they also took the opportunity to thank him warmly, and Zimbabwe as well, and the political leadership, for supporting Greece in their election as a non-permanent member in the Security Council for the period of 2025-2026.

“I reiterated our commitment to support Zimbabwe in its effort to be elected to the Security Council,” he said.
“I also commended the tireless efforts by His Excellency the President regarding securing peace and security in the region, also through his leadership in SADC, since Zimbabwe holds the chair, the annual chair of SADC.”

Ambassador Farrou also promised to work closely with Zimbabwe in the tourism, agricultural and education sectors in order to enhance and consolidate the really excellent relationship between the two nations.

“So, there are many sectors where we could explore opportunities at political and economic level. One of my priorities will be the field of the sector of tourism. Greece, as you know, is a touristic country,” she said.

“Our industry heavily relies on tourism. So, there is a lot of expertise there, and we are very, very happy to share it with our friends and partners. Just to show you an indication of what I mean about tourism in Greece, last year, 35 million people visited Greece.”

Ambassador Farrou added: “35 million is a lot of people, and Greece is a small, medium country, so you understand how important hospitality and tourism is for us and what kind of expertise my country has in this sector.”

The Greece Ambassador to Zimbabwe said another area on which they will explore possibilities to enhance relations is agriculture. Ambassador Farrou said apart from that, they believe a lot in people-to-people contacts.

“So, this is something which is also very high in my agenda, and this means that we will try to see how we can increase the number of scholarships that we provide to Zimbabwean students,” she said.

Ms Meza said Zimbabwe and Cuba have “very historical and strong ties.”
“My task will be to strengthen them. We share a lot of values. We are very close. We also share some things, unfortunately, like the sanctions. We will fight, we will continue fighting against that,” she said.

“We think we can cooperate more with biotech and industry, also science and technologies, and also deepen the ties we already have in health and in education. We have to improve our economic relations at the same level as the political one.”
Cuba and Zimbabwe this year will celebrate 45 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations which are rock-solid.