The Greek Chairmanship of the Council of Europe left its political and cultural mark during the event held on Wednesday evening at the Columns of Olympian Zeus, with the President of the Hellenic Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, giving the keynote speech on the institutional and social challenges of the pandemic for European republics.
The event, which was attended by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, opened with an address by Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, who, in his capacity as Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, sent a message that, faced with the crises that have been testing our societies in recent years, the answer can only be more Europe, as a space of economic and political Union and, equally importantly, as a space for preserving and promoting common ideas and values. He noted that the Council of Europe is “the guardian par excellence of democracy, the rule of law and human rights, it is a meeting place and a forum for 47 Member States that share the common European legal culture” and that “these principles and values must guide us during hard times”. He stressed that the pandemic and the imposition of unprecedented restrictions to protect life and public health gave the Greek Chairmanship an opportunity “to highlight the true content of the principles and values of the Organisation”. The Alternate Minister underlined the fact that, without lowering the bar for the self-evident right of access to health protection, the restrictions of fundamental liberties must be governed by proportionality, must be temporary and absolutely necessary, and must be continuously reviewed.
Miltiadis Varvitsiotis noted that the timeliness of the Council of Europe's principles during a time of pandemic and crisis motivated the Greek Chairmanship to set the goal of the signing of an ‘Athens Declaration’ during the 130th Session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, to be held on 4 November 2020 in Athens, stressing that “such a text and the adoption of the Declaration would serve as a new acquis in the history of human rights, an invaluable legacy for prosperity for the generations to come”.
He also referred to joint efforts to protect human rights, characteristically calling upon the political, academic and legal world, as well as civil society, to join this continuous, daily struggle that will not end with the pandemic.
Also of note was the Alternate Minister's historical reference to the Plague of Athens and its disastrous results for ancient Athenian democracy. Conversely, he stressed, “in present-day Greece, we have won the battle for life. And we have also won the battle for democracy”, as any extraordinary measures were democratically legitimised, as necessary, through the uninterrupted functioning of Parliament. Acknowledging the solidarity and sacrifice of Greek citizens, but without forgetting those who fell victim to the virus, we can declare that we are proud of our response to the crisis, underlined Mr Varvitsiotis. In conclusion, he expressed a message: “we will face the crisis through joint efforts based on common principles. Our Europe must not turn to the past, closing borders and exercising national policies. We must keep our windows to the world open — and Greece declares that it is present and willing to contribute towards achieving this goal”.
The classical music programme of the event began with young pianist Stelios Kerasidis, who performed his own composition, inspired by the difficult period of the restrictions, titled ‘Isolation Waltz’. His performance was followed by Evgenia Papadima and Isidoros Sideris, who performed Brahms’ Cello Sonata No 1, and the event ended with the Athens State Orchestra's Woodwind Quintet, performing works by Beethoven, Bizet, Verdi and Konstantinidis.
The event was attended by a representative of the Archbishop, members of the Cabinet, representatives of parties, MPs, heads of foreign diplomatic missions, the leadership of the Armed Forces and law enforcement agencies, the leadership of the judiciary, as well as representatives of local government.
The event was presented and coordinated by journalist Katerina Panagopoulou.
July 8, 2020