“Greek migrants living outside of Greece for decades have no position, but it is also dangerous to decide on the plight of the Greek people, given that they are not aware of the Greek reality and their lives are not affected by what is happening in Greece.”
This is the official position of the Federation of the Greek Orthodox Communities of Australia, as it was reaffirmed during its regular meeting, which took place on Friday 31 August at the Greek Orthodox Community of St Albans room. Apart from the voting rights, the Federation discussed issues regarding the promotion of Greek language and culture in Australia and reaffirmed its position on the Cyprus issue. The Federation also expressed the Greek Communities’ commitment to support the victims of the recent fires in Attica.
As far as the issue of voting rights for Greeks abroad is concerned, given that it has recently been brought to the foreground of the Hellenic Parliament’s agenda, the Federation reserved the right to further consider the matter, when the Greek government and political leadership present the draft bill to regulate the issue in Parliament, as announced by the former Minister of Interiors, Panos Skourletis.
This issue was also raised by the President of the Hellenic Republic, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, in his recent address to the First International Conference of the Eptanisian Diaspora in Kerkyra.
“I believe that it is our fundamental obligation to you and towards all Greeks abroad – which we have, unfortunately, long delayed to fulfil, despite previous attempts in the past, failing to regulate voting rights for the Diaspora. I remind you that granting voting rights to the Diaspora is the only executive law of the Constitution that has yet to be ratified. I am certain that all democratic political forces will cooperate, in order to fulfil this obligation towards our compatriots outside the Greek territory.”