"Europe is launching the Conference on its Future, a pan-European, open to all its citizens debate on where we want this ambitious Europe to be directed, what it wants to do, how we want new generations to pursue their dreams within the European project and live on a better and cleaner planet which will offer a digital future, employment opportunities and optimism". This message was sent today by Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis during the official presentation of the anniversary stamp of the EU Delegation to Greece for the 40th anniversary of Greece's accession to the EU. The Alternate Minister, inter alia, referred to the 6 + 1 axes of the Greek proposal, namely the European Defence and Security Framework, Migration, European Cohesion policies, the “Rule of Law-Democracy-Human Rights” triptych, Research and Innovation, the Environment and Climate Change, and the strategy for deepening the EMU. He invited in particular the young, but also all the institutional and social bodies to submit their views. "The platform of the European Commission futureu.europa.eu is an open horizon for anyone who wants to participate", he commented, adding that a similar Greek platform will be created in support. He also announced that the Greek participation in the Conference for the Future of Europe will officially start on May 27, marked by a special event. Referring to the pandemic crisis, Mr. Varvitsiotis pointed out that, taking into consideration the political mandate of the last European elections for the deepening of Europe, the European Union responded to the current challenges, doing things that in the past would have seemed unthinkable, such as the EU’s vaccination program, the European common policies to tackle the coronavirus, the Recovery Fund and the EU enlargement in the Western Balkans. The Alternate Minister underscored that, during this forty-year "multifaceted and reciprocally beneficial" joint Greek-EU course, the Greeks often challenged Europe, but never left it. "Even during the years of crisis, we faced all dilemmas “asking for more Europe” and the vast majority of us supported the country’s political choice to participate in the hard core of the Union," he noted. Finally, Mr. Varvitsiotis reiterated that the European accession project was launched and completed due to the conception, perseverance and efforts of Konstantinos Karamanlis. His message remains relevant to this day: "There is no Europe without Greece, nor Greece without Europe."
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