Mourners lined the streets outside Athens’ central cathedral for the state funeral for former Prime Minister Costas Simitis, the architect of Greece’s joining the European Union’s common currency.

Mr. Simitis imposed financial measures to prepare for Greece’s entry into the eurozone and laid the groundwork for the Olympic Games’ return to Athens.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Mourners lined the street outside Athens' central cathedral Thursday ahead of the state funeral for former Prime Minister Costas Simitis, the architect of Greece’s joining the European Union’s common currency, who died last weekend at the age of 88.

Greek former prime minister Costas Simitis, the architect of the country's eurozone entry, was laid to rest Thursday in a state funeral. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in an address at the funeral that Simitis will be remembered for "his unwavering belief in (Greece's) European orientation and his constant effort for Greece to converge with the most developed,

Greeks bid farewell on Thursday to former prime minister Costas Simitis, a law professor and reformist, who died last week at the age of 88 and was praised for steering Greece into the European Union's single currency in 2001.

Costas Simitis, who served as Greece’s Prime Minister for two consecutive terms, is remembered as a European visionary and a leader whose tenure marked a transformative era for modern Greece.

Costas Simitis, former prime minister of Greece credited as the architect of the country’s joining the common European currency, the euro, died Jan. 5 at a hospital in Corinth. He was 88. State TV ERT announced the death but did not provide further details.

The funeral for the former Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis will be held on Thursday, 9 January, at 12pm at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens.