Your Eminence, ladies and gentlemen. First of all, let me start by thanking Mike and Drake for their very kind words of introduction and no visit to New York is ever, ever complete without a gathering of the dynamic Greek-American community of this wonderful city. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much for acting, as Drake said, as a very stable and robust bridge between our two countries.
Today is another opportunity to honour distinguished members of the Greek-American community. I place particular emphasis in these events, because I feel it is my obligation, our obligation, to recognise the very special work that is being done in the Greek-American community to keep these strong bonds alive and powerful. At a time when the world is faced with very complicated global challenges, Greece is a pillar of stability and prosperity in a very turbulent part of the world. I place particular emphasis on the strategic depth of the relationship that Greece has with the United States, a strategic relationship that was exemplified probably at the highest level when I had the unique privilege of addressing the joint session of Congress in 2022.
It was an opportunity for me to speak about the enduring bonds between our two countries, to highlight our common democratic tradition, to speak a little bit about the challenges that our modern democracies are facing in this era of polarisation, but also probably of this speech, what I remember the most was the pride in the galleries when I saw your faces, the faces of the Greek-American community, watching the Prime Minister of Greece addressing the legislative body of the United States for the first time in our history.
We are working to make this relationship as strong as it can possibly be. I know we have elections in the United States, and I can assure you that whoever is elected, whoever the American people choose to represent them to the highest office, this relationship will go from strength to strength because it is in the mutual interest of our two countries to do so.
Greece is playing a pivotal role in the Eastern Mediterranean, trying, in spite of the difficulties, to normalise our relationship with Turkey, being an honest broker and talking to all the involved parties in order to try to resolve this emerging crisis in the Middle East. We all have an interest to work towards de-escalation and to ensure that this does not become a regional war.
But at the same time, we will continue to build the foundations of our own country as a prosperous and democratic society. If the first four years of our mandate were all about stabilising the country, recognising that we have left the difficult years of the crisis behind us, putting our public finances into order, returning to the world of normal European countries, the next four years are about making a great leap towards the future, achieving real convergence with the European Union, addressing the underlying problems that have held us back for many, many years, ensuring that the economy will continue to grow at a significantly faster pace than the rest of Europe, that we will continue to attract foreign direct investment, that we will continue to create jobs, that we will raise the living standards, improve wages, and as as Drake said, encourage more Greeks who left Greece during the difficult years of the crisis to return.
Encourage more Greek Americans, if not to return, but to take a keener interest in our affairs, to invest in Greece, to spend more time in Greece, to send your kids to Greece, to build the people to people foundations between our two countries.
I’m very optimistic about this project. We have three years ahead of us without any elections. We are a strong government with a comfortable parliamentary majority. I feel that the mandate that I have received from the Greek people is a mandate of bold change. I am not interested in simply managing the affairs of the state. I am interested in making sure that Greece becomes the country it can actually be a protagonist and not the laggard within the European Union, a prosperous democratic society that offers equal opportunity to everyone. This is my vision, and we want you, we want the Greek-American community to be part of this project.
You know that for the first time, in the recent European elections, we did something that was unthinkable. We allowed people to mail in their votes, and you don’t have to return to Greece or to show up at the consulate in order to vote. That was a European election. I am sure that we will be able to do it again for the national elections.
I do need to point out that we need 200 votes in parliament in order to get to that threshold. But I’m sure that looking at the success and the ability of the state to organise this mail-in system, no one will actually refuse granting the right for those who live abroad to actually vote without having to either visit the embassy or the consulate or returning to Greece as was the case.
It is, I think, important for those who have a right to vote in Greece to be active in the affairs of the state. I don’t believe the argument that if that were to happen, and it will happen, we will export the polarisation of Greece abroad. No, I think you actually have the capability to look at things from a distance, to look at the big picture, to stay above the petty politics that quite frequently engulf us in senseless discussions that don’t talk about the real problems of Greek people. I’m very much looking forward to your participation.
I would also like you to know that one of our big projects is, when it comes to our interactions with our diplomatic missions, our consulates, to make your life easier. Digital technology will help us in this direction. This is a big project I have for the next three years. We have a new Consul General in New York. Ifigenia, come. She just arrived a week ago. A week ago. Well, we sent you one of our best. I’m very much looking forward to the work that she will do here. Just rest assured that we will do whatever we can to make you proud of our homeland and to strengthen these ties.
As someone who has spent many years in the US, who has seen the broken promises of various administrations when they spoke about the importance of this relationship, I want to make sure that we do things differently. I think we’ve demonstrated that we can actually do that. We want you to be part of Greece’s success, and I’m sure that you will do exactly that.
So thank you so much for your presence. It’s a real privilege to be able to see you here, shake your hand.
