Athens, 20 February 2024

Roberta Metsola: "Greece will always be the symbol of democracy" - Ioannis Plakiotakis: "Participation in European elections on 9 June is highest duty"

The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, addressed today the Plenary of the Hellenic Parliament, during the joint session of the Special Standing Committee on European Affairs and the Standing Committees on 1) National Defence and Foreign Affairs, 2) Economic Affairs, 3) Public Administration, Public Order and Justice and 4) Production and Trade. The theme on the agenda of the joint session was “The EU ahead of the European elections”.

The meeting was chaired by the 1^st Vice-President of the Parliament and Chair of the Special Permanent Committee on European Affairs, Ioannis Plakiotakis, who, after welcoming Mrs Metsola to the Hellenic Parliament, referred to the “highest duty that we are called upon to actively perform in the immediate upcoming period, which is none other than that of the European elections on 9 June.” And, as he pointed out, “it is the highest duty because Europe will have to respond in every possible way to a fundamental question that goes to the root of the values that are at the core of the European Union, namely Democracy”.

At this point, Mr Plakiotakis pointed out that “the Hellenic Parliament recently passed a law that deepens Democracy, reflects our unwavering commitment to increase electoral participation and accessibility for all voters and especially for our diaspora”, referring to the possibility for all Greek voters to participate in the European elections, within and outside the country, by postal vote.

The Vice-President of the Hellenic Parliament referred to the extremely complex current situation, as “no one expected that seventy-seven years after the end of WWII, Europe would experience war again due to the desire for the unprovoked occupation of sovereign territories of one state by another, in this case of Ukraine by Russia”. He also made special reference to the Cyprus issue, stressing that fifty years after the tragic events in Cyprus, Greece “will not cease to seek a solution that can only be reached through negotiations on the basis of the agreed and binding for all pertinent resolutions of the UN Security Council”.

Mr Plakiotakis did not fail to mention the ongoing detention of the elected mayor of Himara, Fredi Beleri, in neighbouring Albania, an issue that for our country, which “has always been a protagonist in supporting the European perspective of the Western Balkans”, is, as he said, “a rule of law issue”. As he stressed, “Albania’s accession process cannot move forward when there is such a contempt for the rule of law, the presumption of innocence and the respect for civil rights”.

For her part, the President of the European Parliament said she was honoured to be addressing the “Hellenic House of Democracy”, stressing that “all know this - Greece will always be the symbol of democracy. This ancient nation that produced the architecture, the art and the philosophy that shaped our civilisation and thinking. It is only fitting, therefore, that the birthplace of democracy was recently classified among the 20 strongest democracies in the world.” It was here, at the cradle of Democracy, that she chose to pay tribute to “Alexei Navalny. First they took his freedom, then they took his life but his legacy and his struggle will live on, in people in Russia and in all of us. It is important for me to recognise his courage here. In this place. Democracy takes courage”, she said.

As Mrs Metsola said, “We know the perspective offered by a European Union that comes with opportunities but also with responsibilities”, underlining the leading role played by our country in crucial moments, such as managing the covid pandemic, as “Greece lead the charge to bring in EU-wide Digital Certificates that re-opened Europe”. She also said how grateful she was “to the people of Greece and your leadership for your constructive partnership, and commitment around the EU table”, referring to the shelter and care that our country offered to Ukrainian refugees, recognising that “none of this has been easy”.

The President of the European Parliament called on all European citizens to go to the polls, saying: “We can recapture the enthusiasm for Europe. We can show that politics is a force for good, a vehicle for positive change in our communities and our societies. That is how we can convince people to vote in the next European elections in June. After all, it was that great Greek Plato who said: “The heaviest penalty for declining to rule is to be ruled by someone inferior to yourself”. Don’t take that risk. Vote.”

 

 

 

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