“Without the help of the Greeks abroad, we will not be able to rebuild the country the way it deserves,” main opposition New Democracy (ND) leader Antonis Samaras said on Thursday, addressing the party’s first Ecumenical Hellenism conference held in the context of the thematic pre-congresses being organised ahead of the upcoming ND 8th Congress.
“You are the best part of Hellenism,” Samaras told the delegates, and pledged that when ND takes over the government it will see to three items of priority, namely getting rid of the bureaucracy so that overseas Greeks can settle their problems without needing to go through all the red tape, boosting the teaching of the Greek language abroad, especially to the children of the overseas Greeks, and creating the conditions for the repatriation of all those who wish to return to Greece.
On the issue of absentee voting for the Greeks abroad, he said that ND had tried to achieve this but had met with big resistance. “You know from whom. But I promise that we will try again, and this time we will succeed,” Samaras said, adding that in the age of the internet distances are negated. “The Greek communities abroad have a say in Greece’s destiny, and they should have a loud voice in its democracy. We promised you this, and we tried. I promise to try again, and this time we will succeed,” he said.
(source: ana-mpa)
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