Schinas: A European Greece in a Europe that protects its people
In 2021, Greeks have every right to be proud and confident as they celebrate two centuries of freedom, notes the Vice-President of the European Commission, Margaritis Schinas, in a commentary for Greek think tank ELIAMEP.
In the commentary, Schinas also highlights the fact that it is also the 40th anniversary of Greece’s accession to the European Community, another key historical achievement, perhaps the most significant since the rebirth of the nation. He says that European Greece is now an integral part of the most advanced model of democracy and society in the world.
“Greece has achieved as much in the 40 years in which it has been part of the core of Europe as it achieved in the previous 160 years of its modern history.
The Greeks are now Europeans who are proud—not guilty—to belong to the West. The coronavirus pandemic, unprecedented in depth, intensity and extent, has cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of our fellow human beings and fundamentally changed the
course of the world as we knew it,” he notes.
At the European level, it has led to historic decisions whose implementation is now in full swing. Europe’s response to the crisis represents “an unprecedented leap of unification and solidarity; it confirms that the choices Greece made in the past were the right ones.”
The EU official also says that Greece has already shown that it can play a leading role in this mature Europe. “Its serious management of migration, cool-headed but firm positions on issues relating to the Eastern Mediterranean region, its axis of Friendship with the Gulf countries, its constructive stance in the Balkans and active involvement in the strategic questions Europe has been called upon to answer, have made Greece a force to be reckoned with and a broker of future developments.”
In this emblematic year of historic milestones and the ongoing pandemic crisis, European Greece has shown itself to be stronger, more coherent and more creative than before, he adds.
