“The reminiscences stay very alive”, however on the similar time “we owe the following generations a worthy and even higher continuation” identified the President of the Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou on the reception she hosted on Wednesday to mark the completion of fifty years of Publish-colonization.
After firstly Mrs. Sakellaropoulou proceeded on the one hand with a historic overview of what’s now thought-about as acquired and alternatively with a file of the up to date challenges going through Greece, she referred to the necessity for democracy “to reinvent and renew herself”. It’s, in keeping with her, the one approach to make sure it “new breath, that means and momentum”.
The celebrations for the fiftieth anniversary of the autumn of the junta and the restoration of democracy culminated with the customary reception on the Presidential Palace.
“We’re celebrating the smoothest and most progressive interval in our trendy historical past”
Total in her speech the President of the Republic famous: “Immediately is a historic day. Fifty years after the return to Greece of Konstantinos Karamanlis and the restoration of democracy, the reminiscences stay very a lot alive. They fill us with emotion and gratitude to those that fought selflessly in opposition to the dictatorship. Who had been tortured inhumanely, like Spyros Moustaklis, Alekos Panagoulis, Sakis Karagiorgas. We honor all these, current and absent, who risked their youth, their freedom and their lives, for the nice of us all.
We additionally recall with ache the Cyprus concern, the most important and open wound of Hellenism, 5 a long time after the hideous Turkish invasion. Cyprus has earned its rightful place in Europe. It’s, nonetheless, nonetheless a semi-occupied nation. We always remember our highest nationwide debt, the ultimate justification of the Cypriot wrestle, primarily based on the selections of the United Nations and the EU acquis.
Immediately we have fun the Postcolonization, the smoothest and most progressive interval of our trendy historical past. A political, social and cultural conquest of the Greeks. With the milestone of the common enjoyment of democracy and the elimination of exclusions and discrimination.
The state concern was resolved, the Communist Celebration was legalized, the Nationwide Resistance was acknowledged, the certificates of social opinions had been abolished. These might sound apparent now, however there have been essential steps for a State of freedom and equality.
The undisputed elections, the graceful rotation of events in energy and the steadiness of parliamentarism present the depth and endurance of our democratic establishments, even in tough occasions for society and the political system.
“Our nation has consolidated its presence on the coronary heart of the European Union”
Postcolonialism is a interval of mental upliftment. Censorship was succeeded by freedom of expression, the spring in letters and the humanities. Non-public life, morals and requirements of conduct escaped the conservatism of the previous. Schooling, as soon as a privilege of the few, grew to become a typical good and a belt of social mobility. The Greeks acquired extra potentialities and enriched their performances, studied and traveled overseas.
Our historical past was marked, like no different occasion, by the accession to the European Union after which to the Eurozone. It has been instrumental in enhancing our lifestyle, establishments, perceptions and lifestyle. European and Greek id usually are not distinguishable, they’re inseparable. Our nation consolidated its presence on the coronary heart of the Union, changing into a guarantor of safety within the japanese Mediterranean and the broader area. The Greeks needs to be pleased with what they’ve achieved. Publish-colonial Greece left behind the post-war backwardness. It’s now one other Greece.
“The traumas of Postcolonialism name us to self-criticism, reflection and vigilance”
Now we have, nonetheless, handed by way of this half-century, nice trials and vicissitudes. Now we have skilled the successive crises of our time, with the monetary one on the prime. We had been confronted with correlations and exterior elements, but in addition with our personal weaknesses and pathologies. We witnessed tragic occasions, in Mati and Tempi, which harm us deeply.
Postcolonial traumas name us to self-criticism, reflection and vigilance. They remind us of the significance of consensus and the overall curiosity over petty politics and inaction for causes of political value. In addition to our responsibility of zero tolerance for any type of political violence and questioning of the elemental values of our tradition. The standard of democracy just isn’t a given, nor does historical past have a linear improvement. Particularly in a transitory and altering world.
“Worldwide coordination is required”
The challenges are a number of and transcend our nationwide borders. Synthetic intelligence is bringing revolutionary modifications in lots of fields, reminiscent of well being, work, training. On the similar time, we fear about its distortions, the erosion of democracy and our private sphere by faux information, the substitution of human assets by algorithms.
The precision, the discount of buying energy and the opening of the hole between the winners and the losers of globalization dictate the necessity for rules and public insurance policies primarily based on social justice and equality of alternatives. We search a greater and extra environment friendly State, citizen-friendly, truthful, with sustainable improvement. The local weather disaster threatens us existentially. No procrastination is excused in coping with it.
Worldwide coordination and cultivation of the ecological consciousness of all of us is required. Within the migration and refugee concern, the safety of borders, a European affair, have to be harmonized with respect for human life and worth. Tragedies like Pylos assault the core of our tradition. The armed conflicts in Ukraine and Israel and the humanitarian disaster in Gaza spotlight the delicate geopolitical balances, in addition to our duty to defend our fundamental ideas, those who serve the harmonious coexistence between peoples.
“Essential Crossroads”
Liberal democracy is at a important crossroads and should reinvent and renew itself.
Right here tonight are figures from civil society, in whom we acknowledge the Publish-colonialism, its successes, but in addition its wounds. I need to guarantee them that our gaze just isn’t solely on the previous and the reckoning. It’s oriented in the direction of the way forward for our State, in the direction of what’s to return, the fears and expectations of our folks.
We owe the Greeks and the following generations, who will tackle the burdens of our nation, a continuation worthy and even higher of those fifty years. Drawing energy from their democratic and liberal instance and giving it new life, that means and momentum.”
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