haris theoharis, welcome to hardtalk— haris theoharis, welcome to hardtalk. ., a, hardtalk.thank you for inviting _ hardtalk. thank you, thank you for inviting me. _ hardtalk. thank you, thank you for inviting me. a _ hardtalk. thank you, thank you for inviting me. a pleasure - hardtalk. thank you, thank you for inviting me. a pleasure to i for inviting me. a pleasure to have you _ for inviting me. a pleasure to have you here _ for inviting me. a pleasure to have you here in _ for inviting me. a pleasure to have you here in london, - for inviting me. a pleasure to have you here in london, you are here to tell the world that greece is now open for tourism and for business, but the truth is greece still has a very serious covid problem? i would not call it serious _ serious covid problem? i would not call it serious but _ serious covid problem? i would not call it serious but it - serious covid problem? i would not call it serious but it is - not call it serious but it is as serious as many countries in europe. the third wave has been hitting europe hard but we are over the ap

well, my guest today is greece's minister of tourism, haris theoharis.rolong the pandemic? haris theoharis, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. thank you for inviting me. it's a pleasure to have you here in london. you are here to tell the world that greece is now open for tourism and for business. but the truth is, greece still has a very serious covid problem. well, i wouldn't call it serious, but it's as serious as many countries in europe. the third wave has been hitting europe hard, but we are over the apex. the numbers are getting better day by day. and i think greece is ready with a complete, mature and professional system to allow people again during the summer season. right. but one of the gauges of how countries are doing is notjust the infection rate — and your infection rate spiked in april, but it's coming down — but it's also about how many vaccines you're delivering. and you're one of the slowest countries in europe to get your people vaccinated. and everybody else around the world is going to see that. and they're going to worry. no, we're no

to kick off our conversation with the tourism minister, haris theoharis.t into our gas -- our guest interview. i have to ask you, in a weak time you say you want to reopen, but that european union say it will not be ready until june. can you guarantee you can reopen that quickly and safely? haris: of course. we have a system ready, a professional and mature system. that sir we opened with protocols and rules on how to travel and what happens. this led to the condition, we were awarded for excellency and the management of covid. this year, we have more tools at our disposal. we have the vaccination progress and we have rapid tests, those will happen randomly at airports. maria: the date, may 15, that stays unchanged. i want to ask you about your meetings in germany, you're meeting with officials in there and travel operators. are you looking at a unit around rural -- a unilateral deal? haris: that is a very important market for us. the meetings are for the purpose of coordinating. european rules and regulations. it is better if the 27 countries in the eu co