Kyriakos Mitsotakis gave Tridos a photo of the Canadian Prime Minister’s visit to the Acropolis as a child

At an event of the Greek Community of Major Montreal, the Prime Minister, along with Justin Trindeau, gave him. Kyriakos Mitsotakis was named Honorary President of the Community as recognition for his work. Especially was the moment when the Greek Prime Minister revealed that he found a picture of Justin Tridot since his childhood when he had visited Greece and had ascended to the Acropolis. The Prime Minister of Canada did not hide his surprise with the people present at the event breaking out in applause. The expatriates thanked the Prime Minister and Prime Minister of Canada for their firm support for the homogeneity and for plans to build a new, “green” community centre that would include cultural sites, sports and school facilities, reflected in the joint statement adopted earlier by the two leaders. Justin Tridot announced during the event that the Canadian government would offer 10 million Canadian dollars support. Mitsotakis stressed in his speech that “The Day of Greek Independence, March 25th, is a very special day, because it was the day the Greeks rebelled against all odds, fought for their independence and prevailed. This is the beginning of the modern Greek state. For the last 203 years, we’ve certainly had our good times and hard times. It wasn’t a smooth course. Democracy is never an easy exercise. But I am proud to stand here before you and tell you that, yes, Greece today is in very, very good condition.” He then added that our country “is no longer the ‘black sheep’ of the European family. It is a country with confidence, effectively represented in the European Union and working with its partners to solve very, very complex global problems. You have a key role to play in this effort. Because one of the reasons why I decided to spend Greek Independence Day with you was because we made an important decision in the Greek Parliament a few months ago: we decided, for the first time in our history, to enable you to vote in the Greek elections through an epistolic vote, without having to go to the embassy or return to Greece. It is important for us in Greece, in order for you, those of you who have the right to vote in Greece, to be able to participate in this election,” the prime minister said, inviting expatriates to register on the electronic platform by the end of April. The entire speech of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis: “I am really glad to be here in Montreal, one of the largest centers of Ecumenical Hellenism. Thank you for this wonderful welcome. Thank you very much. Prime Minister Trido, your statements inspired me so much. I’ll put aside the statement I had prepared. So let me first say how great an honor it is for me to be here with you today. It is an honor to be the first Greek Prime Minister in 41 years to officially visit Canada, a country with which we are connected so strongly. But you know what? While searching my file, I discovered something interesting. Because 41 years ago, young Justin Trido visited Athens with his father and two younger brothers. I have a picture of him here. For a teenager, he shows real interest in what he saw. I’ll give him this picture as a souvenir. I cannot imagine a better place to spend Greek Independence Day than being with you here in Montreal to celebrate these diverse aspects, the vigor and dynamism of the Greek-Canadian community. I was so impressed, as I attended the parade today, seeing people from various generations, proud Canadians, proud Greeks, proud of your legacy in Greece, defending what Prime Minister Trido said. This was a great achievement of your country, dear Justin. One can be both proud Canadian and proud Greek. It’s proof of what makes this country so great. Of course, for us, Greek Independence Day, March 25th, is a very special day, because it was the day the Greeks rebelled against all odds, fought for their independence and prevailed. This is the beginning of the modern Greek state. For the last 203 years, we’ve certainly had our good times and hard times. It wasn’t a smooth course. Democracy is never an easy exercise. But I am proud to stand here before you and tell you that, yes, Greece today is in very, very good condition. We’ve overcome considerable difficulties. We spent a decade experiencing a deep economic and social crisis. When we were first elected in 2019, my first job was to ensure that the economy would return to a sustainable development path, that we would create jobs, that we would reduce unemployment and that we could attract back the young Greeks who had no choice but to leave Greece during the deep economic crisis. Five years later, Greece grows at a rate much faster than that of the eurozone. It attracts significant foreign investment. She’s got her finances in order. But the most important thing is that you are once again proud to be Greek, that Greece is no longer the “black sheep” of the European family. It is a country with confidence, effectively represented in the European Union and working with its partners to solve very, very complex global problems. You have a key role to play in this effort. Because one of the reasons why I decided to spend Greek Independence Day with you was because we made an important decision in the Greek Parliament a few months ago: we decided, for the first time in our history, to enable you to vote in the Greek elections through an epistolic vote, without having to go to the embassy or return to Greece. It is important for us in Greece, so that those of you who have the right to vote in Greece can participate in this election. We have an electronic platform that is open. You can register until the end of April. I would encourage you to do so, because Justin said something very important: “democracy is never easy”. But at the end of the day, the power of our democracies depends very much on the democratic participation of all citizens. The fewer citizens involved in democratic processes, the less legitimacy elected leaders will have. As a community that is deeply interested in what is happening in Greece, we want you to have a real say, first in the European elections, which are very important because they define the MEPs who will represent us in the European Parliament for the next five years. Then, in the upcoming national election, in 2027. We count on you and we want you to participate actively in Greek internal policy. That is why we want you to participate in this election, and I am sure you will. Prime Minister Trido had the opportunity to discuss a number of issues of common interest. We discussed the major challenges we are facing at international level. We both, as Justin said, visited Ukraine. We have seen in person the havoc, pain, and suffering caused by an unjust war. We reaffirmed our commitment to an international order based on rules. We cannot accept a border breach by using force. That is why we stand by Ukraine’s side for as long as it takes to enable Ukrainians to defend themselves in the best possible way. We also discussed the other major global challenges. Global warming is one of them. Both our countries were hit last year by devastating fires and it is indeed a great privilege to be today the first European country to sign a contract for seven new firefighting planes to be built here in Canada to replace our old Canadian fleet. We had a decisive role in convincing the European Union to co-finance this project and a total of 24 planes will be purchased from five different European countries. Everything will be built in Canada. This is another proof of how we can work together to face global challenges, such as global warming. We have also discussed the threats against our democracy, the fact that political dialogue today can become so divisive, so corrosive, that we find it difficult to recognise the other view, to approach the other side, to form a consensus, everything that is so fundamental to continuing to function and prosper a living democracy. These are challenges that we must face without twists. In 2024, think about it, almost half the world’s population will vote in elections. This will be the biggest election year in history. However, we are at a time when we are bombarded with new challenges, with fake news, with deep fakes, with artificial intelligence that can be used by those who want to disrupt democratic processes. We, all democratic countries, must align and work together to meet these challenges. As you can see, there is much we can do together, Greece and Canada. But again, let me finish where I started. The reason I am here is to honor the incredible dynamism of the Greek-Canadian community, especially this community here in Montreal. Prime Minister, you’ve done great things. The quality of your schools, the social networks you have created, the ability to train your children in three languages – French, English, Greek – are particularly remarkable achievements. I feel like now I have to sign a check for the new community center, but I can’t do it unless I have the approval of the finance minister. But rest assured that we will continue to support the Greek diaspora. We have for the first time a national strategy for our diaspora, which was approved by the Cabinet a month ago. We have new tools, electronic tools, to help young children learn Greek: an amazing program called “In Greek”, developed at Simon Fraser University and used pilot for other languages. The Prime Minister was telling me he’s using the same technology for some of your native languages. This, I believe, is another remarkable proof of how we can work together. At the end of the day, however, what I will remember more than this day is the image of young children who sang both the Canadian and the Greek national anthem with the same pride, with the same energy, with the same enthusiasm. Long live Greece, long live Canada, long live March 25. Thank you very much for your warm welcome to both of us here today. Thank you very much.”