Statement by Greece in the UN General Assembly on the occasion of the adoption of resolution "Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal" , 26.10.2015

Statement by Greece

Mr. President,

Greece aligns itself with the statement delivered by the European Union and wishes to add the following from a national point of view:

Dating back from the 8th Century BC, the ancient Olympic Games were meant to be a force for peace and solidarity among ancient Greek city-states that declared truce for a period of 7 days before the beginning and 7 days after the end of the Games. The ultimate goal was the peaceful conduct of the Games by protecting the city from invasion and ordering individuals and state authorities to refrain from interfering with the safe passage of the athletes. As Thucydides claims, in case States violated the truce, their athletes were banned from participating.

The concept of the Olympic Truce was born and carried out for a period of 1200 years back in antiquity. Greeks saw in the Games a chance to replace conflict with friendly competition. However, the ideal of Truce was also of great importance for the revival of the Olympic Games in modern era as an invaluable tool to advance international understanding and promote world peace.

In today’s world, emphasis on Olympic peace has become a major feature of modern Olympic ideology. The foundation of the International Olympic Truce Center, for the creation of which Greece was actively engaged with the International Olympic Committee, gave new dynamism to the pursuit of peace. Most importantly, the inclusion of the Olympic Truce to the UN framework through the adoption of relevant resolutions granted a distinct role to the ideal. We should bear in mind that in a world of differences, inequalities and conflicts, even an agreement for a temporary truce is an achievement of the international community. Therefore, it is our responsibility to continue to promote the Olympic truce and spare no effort to ensure its actual implementation.

In 2016, Brazil will host the XXXI Olympic Games and the XV Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. I seize this opportunity to wish Brazil every success in this demanding endeavor. The task of the rest of us is to meet our responsibilities by observing the Olympic Truce and make peace an attainable goal. We should all find inspiration in next year’s Olympic Games and reflect on how sports could be used as useful tool to reduce tensions and build bridges.

Thank you for your attention.