Greece’s President Katerina Sakellaropoulou sent a Christmas and New Year’s message to the Diaspora on Friday affirming that Greeks living abroad remain an integral part of Hellenism.
Mrs Sakellaropoulou said that the motherland looks to its community abroad with pride honouring its members’ significant achievements in the arts and in the sciences, technology, and entrepreneurship.
“You are an integral part of Hellenism, modern Odysseus’s who crossed borders and seas, going through trials and disappointments, but with your persistence and hard work transformed them into opportunities and developed them into triumphs,” President Sakellaropoulou noted.
“You experienced life as foreigners and enriched your identity without ever allowing your homeland’s memory to fade away and the ties to weaken These ties confirm their power these holidays, in your families, your own people, in churches, and in your hearts. I wholeheartedly wish you a Merry Christmas, health, and personal happiness for the New Year!” the president concluded.
Similarly, Greek Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Dendias extended a festive message to the Australian Diaspora, highlighting that “even though there is geographical distance between Australia and Greece, the two communities are really close, if we consider they share common principles and values.”
The two countries both honour democracy and human rights, respect of every country’s sovereign rights, observing International Law and the International Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), commitment to peaceful resolution of differences, and support of the UN Charter, having forged strong historical ties forged during World Wars I and II.
“Greece and Australia developed a substantial and productive collaboration in the context of international organisations” while thanks to the Greek Australian Community’s “activity and the systematic promotion and support of Greece’s stances, our fellow Greeks have become ‘ambassadors’ of our country and contribute to the further enhancement of already strong ties of friendship and collaboration with Australia.”
The Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias sent a message with wishes for the Christmas holiday through his Twitter account.
“Many Years! I wish on the day of the birth of Christ for peace to the whole world and to you and your families health, prosperity and happiness for Christmas,” said Minister Dendias on Twitter.
Χρόνια πολλά! Θερμές ευχές για τη σημερινή μεγάλη εορτή των Χριστουγέννων. #Χριστούγεννα #christmas pic.twitter.com/mckHOujGGB
— Nikos Dendias (@NikosDendias) December 25, 2022
General Konstantinos Floros, Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff (GEETHA), shared the sentiment “The Armed Forces of Greece are carrying out their mission with complete success, causing deterrent awe in those who are hostile to us and trust in our friends, partners and allies,” said the GEETHA leader, addressing the members of the Greek Community of Melbourne ” an internal part of Hellenism” holding on to the motherland’s values and traditions, creating a home away from home, that boasts the third largest Greek population in the world.
