EU Commissioner Schinas marks Greek bicentennial
Margaritis Schinas, the Vice President of the European Commission, on Wednesday sent a message on the bicentenary celebration of the Greek War of Independence. In his video, filmed in front of the Acropolis, Schinas stressed the intrinsically European nature of modern Greece.
“We celebrate both Greece and Europe because one cannot exist without the other,” he said.
Schinas continued to memorialize the international aspect of the Greek struggle for independence.
“We honor all those diaspora Greeks, who tirelessly and fearlessly, in every corner of the world, kept the memory of their native land alive and strengthened the European enlightenment, the intellectual and political uprising, with their revolutionary ideas,” he said.
The Greek Commissioner also made special mention of “the thousands of philhellenes who, unbidden, aided the Greek struggle of Independence, attracted by its lofty and noble ideals. And, of course, the protagonists of the struggle of Independence, the simple Greeks who took up arms and threw themselves into the battle for a free, proud Greece.”
Finally, Schinas looked to the future of Greece, one that has recovered from the recent crises with self-confidence, strength, and innovation.
“A Greece that can now safely leave the low points of her history in the past and build on the greatness of its achievements contributing decisively, as a mature partner, on a European and international level throwing herself into a struggle that vindicates the expectations of young Greeks and honors the sacrifices of past generations,” he said.
