Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis attended, together with the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, the inauguration of the Europa Experience center in Athens, at the Arsakeio Megaron.
The Prime Minister was shown around, together with Ms. Metsola and European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism Apostolos Tzitzikostas, the center’s facilities, where visitors have the opportunity to learn, through interactive experiences and digital tools, about how the European Union works, the initiatives and role of its institutions, and the impact of European policies on citizens’ daily lives. At the same time, the center offers spaces for discussion and learning.
The Prime Minister’s speech follows:
Madame President, dear Roberta, Commissioner, dear members of the European Parliament, ladies and gentlemen,
First of all, Roberta, thank you for bringing us the ideal weather combination. First of all, rain, which we desperately need, and now a beautiful sunny day. We should have you here more frequently, but this is a very special day for us because we are inaugurating this incredible space, this Europa Experience in Athens.
It’s a modern, dynamic space that seems to make excellent use of technology to bring the European Union closer to its citizens, and especially the younger generation. I’m happy that we’re joined here by young people who I’m sure will make very good use of this space to understand how Europe functions, because Europe can seem at times distant and complicated, but it is not a distant bureaucracy, it’s a living organism that shapes our everyday lives.
As Roberta said, participation is the cornerstone of democracy. Participation, meaningful participation, cannot exist without knowledge, without a genuine interest in public affairs, both at the national and at the European level. I think this Europa Experience is designed precisely to foster this, to spark curiosity, to stimulate thought, to inspire dialogue, critique, and of course, a vision for the future of Europe.
I think this mission is extremely crucial at these times when we are faced, both in our domestic politics, but also at the European level, with many populist and anti-European forces, sometimes refuelled by hostile third actors, and they seek to undermine our idea, our concept of a united Europe. They spread fake news, disinformation about what Europe really is and what Europe actually does.
But the truth is clear, and it is important to communicate this truth, especially to the younger generation. The European Union has played a decisive role in securing peace, prosperity, freedom and democracy in our continent. It is undoubtedly, and we should not get tired of repeating this, the most successful multilateral project in the history of international relations.
We now have a Union of 27 equal states, raising the living standards for hundreds of millions of European citizens. We are confronted, and we’ll have a chance to discuss this later with many challenges, but what we do know, and especially in Greece, we know it very well, that we cannot meet these challenges alone. We are much stronger when we are united, and the answer can only be more Europe.
This Union has been forced through repeated crises. Each time, we should not forget, in spite of the scepticism and the sometimes negative feelings that permeate our debate, we have emerged stronger from these challenges, advancing towards an ever closer union in the way our founders have imagined it.
For us, in particular, this place means a lot. A decision was taken more than 40 years ago by a visionary leader, Konstantinos Karamanlis, to join the European Economic Community at the time. We became the 10th member to join that club. It was not an obvious decision at the time. But Greece has benefited tremendously from this choice, geopolitically, economically, and culturally. We have been anchored in a safe haven and a safe port. We know how meaningful and how important this was, especially during the very difficult fiscal crisis.
It is important, let me finish with this, for more people to understand exactly how Europe works, to appreciate this intricate institutional arrangement that we have built, and to better understand how Europe contributes to our daily lives.
So, I wish the best of success to this incredible space. I hope that many schools and many young people will visit it on a daily basis and look forward to participating in more events that will take place in this lovely auditorium.
Thank you very much.
