Mourners are lining the street 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 who died Sunday at the age of 88.

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.

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.

Costas Simitis, former prime minister of Greece and the architect of the country’s joining the common European currency, the euro, has died at 88, state TV ERT reports.

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.

Costas Simitis, the reformist prime minister whose governments oversaw Greece's eurozone entry, helped Cyprus join the EU and planned for the Athens 2004 Olympics, died Sunday at the age of 88.

During his tenure, Simitis managed a period of economic reform, steering the country through changes and stabilizing the Greek economy.

Simitis' funeral will be carried out with the honours of a serving Prime Minister. Among the most important successes of his eight-year term were Greece joining the eurozone, as well as his effort in pushing for Cyprus' accession to the European Union.

Former Greek prime minister Costas Simitis, who led the country into the European Union's single currency in 2001, died on Sunday aged 88 at his summer house in the Peloponnese. Simitis, a law professor and a reformist,