The gold medal of the Hellenic Parliament was awarded today to the President of the Hellenic Republic, Mr.Nikos Christodoulides, by the Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament, Mr.Konstantinos Tasoulas, who noted that President Christodoulides symbolizes a promising new beginning.
At a meeting held this afternoon at the Hellenic Parliament, as part of President Christodoulides' official visit to Greece, the President of the Hellenic Parliament said, among other things, addressing the President that "I welcome you under the depressing shadow of the unbearable tragedy of Tempi in which Hellenism was affected. You too have student victims of this unspeakable tragedy and we must all sweep away the causes of this unbelievable tragedy and allow the country, the people who today are overwhelmed, to move forward, leaving behind similar tragedies that both psychologically and practically bind us.
I welcome you with honour and joy because you symbolize a promising new beginning for the long-suffering national issue of Cyprus, which remains the top issue of Greek foreign policy.
Listening to your first thoughts, your first orientations, I am sure that your realism, the good experience you have had, your deep and effective relationship with foreign policy, will be a very good ally in this difficult uphill climb that awaits you.
I am sure that with your worthy partners and with the support of the Cypriot people, who have recently expressed their support to you in a decisive manner, we will be led to what we desire, namely a solution that is in line with the resolutions of the Security Council and the European acquis.
Once the slogan was union, now it is reunification, the same word with a different meaning.
The Parliament has always embraced the national issue and I wish you, with the cooperation of Greece, which has always been emblematic and exemplary, that the Cyprus problem will finally be brought to a happy and civilised outcome, as the Cypriot people first and foremost and all Hellenism longs for.
I am sure that your term of office will have all these optimistic messages and why not, at last, the optimistic outcome that we all expect."
For his part, President Christodoulides said, among other things, that it is a great honour to be in the Greek Parliament, while expressing his condolences for the tragedy in Tempi.
"A tragedy that should remind all of us who are in positions of power, who are chosen by the people through the electoral process to lead our country, that the best memorial is to do everything possible to prevent such tragedies from happening again".
He added that "this is not my first time here, I have come as a visitor, as a Government Spokesman, as a Foreign Minister, today as President of the Republic, but what I always think of first is the catalytic role played by the Greek Parliament in the most important success of Cypriot foreign policy since its establishment in 1960, the accession of the Republic of Cyprus to the EU in 2004.
The Cypriot people never forget the role of the Hellenic Parliament.
We invest in the great European family today in order to achieve our number one priority, which is liberation, ending the occupation and the reunification of our homeland. Cyprus cannot be the last divided member state of the EU.
We are well aware of the difficulties and the facts, but we strongly believe that the current state of affairs in Cyprus cannot be the future of Cyprus, the future of Cypriots, Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, Maronites, Armenians, Latins, all the legal inhabitants of Cyprus.
We will do everything possible in coordination with Greece, with other EU member states, in order to break this deadlock and finally find a solution to the Cyprus problem. The passage of time is creating new fait accompli, pushing the prospect of a Cyprus settlement even further away and this is yet another reason why we will do everything possible to achieve reunification on the basis of the agreed framework, on the basis of UN resolutions and the principles and values of the great European family."
Presenting the gold medal of the Hellenic Parliament, which is a seal from the 1821 Revolution, and on which is written "seal of freedom", Mr. Addressing the President of the Republic, Tasoulas said that "by giving it to you, I feel that it is being received by someone who we all hope that in his hands Cyprus will acquire its own seal of freedom from the shackles of occupation and the past and become a united, prosperous country for all its inhabitants".
(PM/IC)
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