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- Ελληνικά
It is with great pleasure that I participate in today's event, on such a special day for the European Union and European citizens, on such an important day for our country, in this symbolic event that gives us the opportunity to honour the initiators and founders of the great European family to which we belong.
First and foremost, we owe a debt of gratitude to the pioneers of the Union, Robert Schuman and Jean Monet, who 74 years ago, on the ruins of the two World Wars, laid the foundations of the European edifice, which evolved into the European Union as we know it today, the European Union which is the most important collective achievement of the human race on the Old Continent since the Enlightenment. The creation of the European Coal and Steel Community was the beginning of a more general economic integration that would in the future form the core of the European Federation.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We celebrate Europe Day, together with the 20th anniversary of the accession of the Republic of Cyprus to the European family. Just a few days ago we had the great honour and pleasure of hosting the President of the European Commission, who celebrated with us this special, special day.
As the Republic of Cyprus, we approach the milestone of accession with feelings of pride, optimism and responsibility towards the New Generation. Feelings of pride for what we have achieved as an active and equal member state of the European Union. Twenty years after our accession, the changes in our country for the better are clearly visible. Membership, among many other things, has brought us enormous benefits in all aspects of human activity, from our everyday life to trade, business, tourism, health, fisheries, shipping, agriculture, transport and the economy.
Feelings of optimism because we know how much more we can achieve as active members of the great European family, with confidence, with dynamism and with certainty.
Feelings of duty and responsibility to hand over to our young people, to our children, to the new generation of our country, a reliable and active member state, which will remain at the heart of the decision-making centres with a substantial voice and role. A state that continues to make a constructive and substantial contribution to the shaping of European policies. For us, for the Republic of Cyprus, there is no other direction than an even stronger Europe, through further integration. A Security Union with a clear geopolitical orientation, with strategic ambitions and strategic autonomy to be able to deal effectively with any challenges.
Dear friends,
This decisive twenty-year course as a member state of the European Union has not been strewn with rose petals. Together with our partners we have faced difficulties, challenges and unprecedented crises. Let me mention the banking and economic crisis of the last decade, the coronavirus pandemic, the war in Ukraine and, more recently, the migration and refugee crisis, which we are trying to tackle in cooperation with our European partners and European institutions at the highest level.
But I would like to highlight in particular the most important change of all, as a result of our accession to the European Union, which is our strengthened position, diplomatically and politically, resulting from the fact that we now belong to a large and powerful family. This strengthened position is important for every member of the European Union, but let us consider how important it is when we are talking about a small state which has been under Turkish occupation for fifty years.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The European Union is also our main support in our efforts to achieve peace in our country. A solution to the Cyprus problem that at the same time will have an important role to play in consolidating a sense of security and cooperation in the troubled region in which we find ourselves. Therefore, achieving a viable and workable solution is not only for the benefit of Cyprus and its people, but also for the Union itself and the wider Eastern Mediterranean region. Therefore, through a viable and workable solution to the Cyprus problem, the European Union and Cyprus will be able to continue to be pillars of stability and an essential bridge between Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean.
That is why I would like once again, using today's opportunity, to send a message of peace and cooperation to our Turkish Cypriot compatriots, inviting them to consider the benefits for the entire Cypriot people of coexistence in a reunited homeland, which will offer everyone the opportunity to live and create in conditions of security and prosperity, making full use of the opportunities of this land.
The European Union is, therefore, the place that offered us and offers us the opportunity to strive, always in a spirit of cooperation, to work for what is possible, for the good of the Union, its citizens, including, of course, the citizens of the Republic of Cyprus. At the same time, we are completely realistic, we understand the limits, the constraints and the interests that exist within the European Union as well. However, the United Europe is our family, and despite any problems and weaknesses within it, we are always looking for solutions to all the major issues we have to deal with.
Friends,
In exactly one month, European citizens will be called to the ballot box for the election of the new members of the European Parliament, a process from which the new leadership of the institutions of the European Union will essentially emerge.
In exactly one month, European citizens will be called to the ballot box for the election of the new members of the European Parliament, a process from which the new leadership of the institutions of the European Union will essentially emerge. At a time of multiple challenges, participation in this electoral process is of particular importance. I therefore invite you to participate en masse in the great celebration of democracy on 9 June for the election of the Members of the European Parliament. I really believe that our mass participation, the mass participation of the Cypriot people, will be the best celebration of the 20th anniversary of our accession.
The electoral process on 9 June is therefore not an obligation, it is a duty, it is our personal presence in a democratic process, it is participation in the celebration of democracy, it is our right to demand more Europe, strategically more autonomous, more united, more effective and more solidary.
Happy birthday to the European Union and European citizens.
All the best, peace, prosperity and well-being.
Thank you very much!
(NYAN/EP)
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