With great honor, Greeks everywhere around the world are celebrating the 200th anniversary of the outbreak of the 1821 Revolution this year.

And we have every reason to honor this anniversary. For, despite 400 years of slavery under the Ottomans, our ancestors managed to keep their national consciousness intact. This was certainly aided by their common language and religion, the time-honored institutions and traditions, and the collective memory of their shared glorious past, which bequeathed to humanity the sciences, the arts, and democracy. These elements—the building blocks of the Nation—together with love for the Fatherland as a place of historical continuity and the unquenchable longing for freedom, had a catalytic effect on the poor, unarmed, and unorganized Greeks; and, despite any local rivalries, the people, the village elders, and the clergy rose up as one to throw off the Turkish yoke.

Their brilliant victories over the Ottoman Empire—the superpower of the time—which were known throughout the world, initially aroused admiration and, later, the Massacre of Chios, the sympathy of the peoples of Europe. And at the most critical moment of the Struggle, when discord and self-interest endangered all that had been won through struggle and rivers of blood, the Great Powers of the time, for their own reasons, saved the Revolution and provided the definitive solution for the liberation of the Greeks and the creation of the modern Greek state.

Two hundred years later, in modern-day Greece, one can find few traces of the factors that led to the miracle of the National Revival.

National homogeneity, a common language, and religion—which, until thirty years ago, were the main characteristics of our country’s population—are now, with the uncontrolled influx of people of different ethnicities, people of different religions and ethnicities, are now tending to be altered.

Our young people—the future and the hope of this country—with very few bright exceptions, either participate in current social events without taking any meaningful action, or watch passively as a small, militant minority—mainly from the Left—engage in protests on demand and in «collateral» destruction inflicted on long-suffering property owners and small business owners, or they leave by emigrating.

Greek society, battered by more than a decade of economic crisis and the pandemic, seems alienated, divided between those who are concerned, those who cheer, and those who oppose, driven by base motives: ignorance, ideological fanaticism, and self-interest. For some, freedom has become synonymous with arbitrariness and anarchy.

And, on top of all that, our sovereignty and our sovereign rights are threatened by our age-old evil demon.

At this critical juncture, it is imperative that the Greek people’s instinct for survival be activated and that we restore the lost honor of the 1821 Revolution.

History tends to repeat itself, and woe to anyone who ignores its lessons!

Let us look back at the events that shaped our destiny and decipher them, with the ultimate goal of rediscovering the true meaning of our homeland and freedom.

Preserving the values that define us as a nation, and our love for our homeland, freedom, and independence, must be our timeless, sacred purpose. Unity, solidarity, selflessness, and courage are the means by which we achieve this goal.

We owe it to future generations and to all those who, with their sacred blood, watered the tree of our freedom and indelibly shaped our destiny!