Over in Greece the Ukrainian president has been pontificating about the importance of democracy in tyrannical times, Helena Smith reports from Athens
Addressing the 10th Athens Democracy Forum, Volodymyr Zelenskiy underlined it was unity that reinforced democracy and unity that would ultimately ensure its success.
People feel that right now something is happening that could become decisive in the centuries-old confrontation between democracy and tyranny,” he said as the Forum opened in the Greek capital on Wednesday evening.
And it is precisely in this address, precisely to the Athens Democracy Forum, that I want to say that I am sure: we will be able to guarantee the future of democracy, we will be able to protect it.
We will, because we know what gives democracy strength, what serves as its heart, ensuring the supply of freedom, like blood, to every part of a democratic society – to every person. This is unity. Unity is the most important thing.
Zelenskiy, who was awarded the 2022 City of Athens Democracy prize in the name of the people of
Ukraine by mayor Kostas Bakoyannis, insisted that the unity the west had shown in the face of Russian brute force was reflected in the setbacks the Russian military had suffered on the battlefield. Continuing his address he said:
We see this now in the war that Russia has waged against our people and against our common democratic system. The greater unity we have, the more tangible Russian defeats are.
Democracy does not live in the government offices or even in the parliament hall. Democracy lives between people. And that is why it is so important that there are no isolated groups in societies – be it the ruling group, or any other privileged groups, or any unintegrated minorities.
After the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine, we managed to achieve the greatest unity of Europe and the democratic community of the whole world in decades. But the greatest does not mean the maximum.
We have a lot to do to further strengthen our unity. And every such step to strengthen is a step to protect democracy. Not just somewhere, not just in some country, but in general – for all of us and for our children.
For all free nations. Forever free.
Greece has stalwartly stood by its Nato and EU allies in opposing Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine despite what were once strong ties with fellow Orthodox
Russia. Athens’ stance has infuriated Russia with the two sides exchanging sharp words and anti-Putin graffiti appearing in the Greek capital.
www.hs.fi
