President Sakellaropoulou: Greece “Returns to Normalcy”

“Greece is gradually and carefully returning to normalcy, along with the rapid expansion of (its) vaccination program,” President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou said on Monday.

In her opening address to the Delphi Economic Forum (DEF), she pointed out that this year’s forum was dedicated to the bicentennial of the 1821 Greek Revolution, which led to the foundation of the modern Greek state.

The Forum was not being held in its “natural surroundings,” as it usually is, in Delphi, but in a hybrid fashion due to the pandemic, with some events held online but also a significant number of speakers attending in person.

“This, therefore, marks the start of the exit from conditions of forced restriction imposed by the pandemic,” Sakellaropoulou noted.

She remarked that the year was a double anniversary for Greece, which was not only celebrating the second century of its independence but also its fourth decade as a member of the European Union, which it joined in 1981.

“These two anniversaries come together to form a single historical narrative,” she added.

Referring to the narrative of modern, European Greece, which inspired younger generations of philhellenes to link their lives to Greece and to love what the country stood for, she said that Greece was a nation devoted to international legality and the works of peace; it had gone through a great deal but had always “stood on the right side of history.

“A robust, liberal democracy that has gone through terrible crises but withstood and emerged even stronger. An economy that was greatly tested but adapted, reformed and is making a leap to a digital and green transition, aspiring to become an international destination for investments,” Sakellaropoulou said.

Delphi Economic Forum shapes agenda in Greece

Heads of state, policymakers, academics and business leaders from around the globe are participating in the Delphi Economic Forum (DEF) which kicked off at the Zappeion Megaron in Athens.

The conference, which features a roster of current and former national leaders, will include a keynote speech by Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and an address by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The DEF 2021 will feature eight thematic pillars: Greek Revolution Bicentennial: 1821-2021; Geopolitics & International Security; Global Economy; the Future of Europe; Sustainability and Climate Change; People, Organizations and Society; Technology and the Future of Growth; and Greece: Structural Reforms and Sustainable Growth.

Other speakers throughout the week include Kersti Kaljulaid, President of the Republic of Estonia, Zuzana Čaputová, President of the Slovak Republic, Archbishop Elpidophoros, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Albert Bourla, CEO Pfizer and Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, President Greece 2021 Committee.

For a full list of speakers, please click here.

Delphi Economic Forum is a nonprofit, member-driven organization, committed to deliver and promote innovative ideas for sustainable and competitive growth for Europe and the wider Eastern Mediterranean region.

It engages political, economic, business, academic, and other thought leaders in an effort to address emerging challenges, influence the national and regional agendas and promote sustainable and socially responsible growth policies for Europe, the wider Eastern Mediterranean and Greece.