The imperative need to maintain the Greek language in the diaspora, the improvement of services in the Consulates, postal voting, and the requirement of the Greek authorities to listen to the feedback of Hellenes abroad were the main topics discussed with four Greek parliamentarians during their Sydney visit.
The NSW capital played host to Stavros Keletsis, Athanasios Papathanasis (both from New Democracy), Stefanos Parastatidis (PASOK-KINAL), and Dr. Miltiadis Zambaras (SYRIZA-PS) over the last week, with them coming primarily to attend the events for Greek Independence Day.
During their visit, they participated in numerous March 25th commemorations organised by the Greek community.
The politicians met with Archbishop Makarios, the Board of the Greek Orthodox Community of NSW, various NSW ministers and MPs of Greek background, and representatives from other community organisations.
The Greek MPs also paid a visit to the Department of Modern Greek and Byzantine Studies at the University of Sydney, meeting with its staff and executives of the Sydney University Greek Society to gain a greater insight into the current situation of Greek at tertiary level.
The MPs stated the above-mentioned activities gave them a broader taste of the Greek Australian community.
On their last day, they held a press conference with media at the Consulate General premises on Thursday afternoon (27 March).
The four Greek politicians responded to various questions asked by Neos Kosmos.
Regarding the long delays that Greek Australians often suffer when trying to book appointments with the Consulate, Keletsis, the head of the delegation, said the following:
“Certainly, it is a major issue…The deficiencies are related to the major crisis that our country witnessed in the past decade or so. However, right now the country is back on track and we are optimistic that we will be able to contribute to the significant improvement of consular services.”
He added: “It is an issue that is raised to us by many community representatives and upon our return we will raise it to the higher levels of government so it can be given the priority it deserves”.
In another question by Neos Kosmos regarding how the Greek authorities treat the feedback received from the diaspora, Papathanasis said:
“There is in the Greek parliament a committee for the Greeks abroad which discusses items raised by the communities and often members of the diaspora are invited, either physically or online, to present their cases.”
Papathanasis added: “From time to time, the committee invites the relevant ministers to receive the feedback and for them to elaborate on the initiatives and measures they take to address those questions”.
On the same subject, Zambaras (the Syriza MP) confessed that visiting the diaspora is the best way to understand their problems and he declared:
“Our country is not only a geographical area. The country is its people wherever they are. This should be understood fully by those who have the responsibility to govern.”
He then said “I would jokingly recommend a candidate prime minister or even an elected prime minister should come and stay 10 to 15 days in Australia and witness firsthand what is going on”.
During the conference, the MPs were asked if their respective parties have the will to further strengthen and make it easier for Greeks abroad to participate in Greek elections.
The two members of New Democracy stated clearly that their party will bring forward a bill to legislate the postal voting for national elections.
The other two MPs declared they support in principle the right of the Hellenes abroad to vote with the provision that the whole process will be secure.
“PASOK wants to give the opportunity for the Greeks to vote for anything that has accessibility both in Greece and abroad. So, in principle, we want to make easier the issues of accessibility. These have to be connected with ensuring the safety of the process, so that there are no issues of security,” Parastatidis said.
He concluded by stating that “a serious discussion needs to take place in order to move forward”.
On the same question, Zambaras said:
“As a matter of principle, we are in favour of Greeks abroad voting for Greek elections, but this has to happen with a secure process …Personally, after this trip, I can say that I understand the reasoning behind implementing postal voting.
When asked by Neos Kosmos what knowledge they gained about the current state of Greek at tertiary level, Keletsis stated:
“The issue of teaching the Greek language abroad is much more complicated as there are different educational systems in the relevant countries where the diaspora lives. So, in every case, a different solution applies which should be accommodated to the needs of the respective countries.”
Kelestis stressed we have to “bridge all these issues to examine them in their totality and raise them through the ministries for Foreign Affairs, Education, Culture and all the other relevant authorities that deal with the Hellenes abroad”.
The MPs all expressed their appreciation for the hospitality shown to them by the Consulate General and the entire Greek Australian community during their visit.
They presented a gift to the Consul General of Greece in Sydney, Ioannis Mallikourtis, as a token of their thanks to him and his staff for their efforts in hosting them.
Mallikourtis responded in kind by handing a gift of his own as he bid them a safe return to Greece.
