Demetriou: Cyprus was better when Disy were in charge
Cyprus “lived better days” when Disy were in charge, party leader Annita Demetriou said on Saturday.
Speaking at Greece’s governing New Democracy party’s conference in the country’s capital Athens, she said “whenever New Democracy and Disy were called by the people to govern, Greece and Cyprus lived better days.”
She added that both parties when in government “gave people back their hope and vision.”
The conference was held to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of inter-party relations between Disy and New Democracy, and of the “Metapolitefsi” period in Greece, which marked the transition between the end of the country’s military junta and the re-establishment of democracy.
Demetriou said Disy and New Democracy “have lived parallel lives”. Both, she said, “were born from the ashes of national difficulties, with the main goal the survival of the nation, the rebirth of Greece and Cyprus.”
“This is our common ground and our common truth. New Democracy and Disy will always put the good of the homeland first and foremost.
“In the face of all forms of populism and extremism, we stake our principles based on healthy patriotism and unwavering faith in the principles and values of the European Union and western civilisation,” she said.
She added that both parties hold dear “the rule of law, respect for human rights and individual freedoms, and the social market economy.”
In addition, she said, “a strong Greece means a strong Cyprus,” and this “will never cease to be the cornerstone of our policies.”
She then turned her attention to the Cyprus problem, saying that “the coordination of movements and the joint progress of Cyprus and Greece is more urgent now than ever before.”
These coordinated moves, she said, will be achieved “through our common European path, but also through the perspectives which are opened up by the European People’s Party, our big European family, the most powerful political force which shapes policies and strategies in the European Union.”
She thanked Greek Prime Minister and New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis for his “constant support” on the Cyprus problem, saying “he makes it clear at every opportunity that a two-state solution will never be acceptable and that Turkey’s beyond-limits behaviour cannot be accepted.”
She added that he has also been steadfast in his position that “the normalisation of relations between Greece and Turkey must always pass through progress on the Cyprus problem.”
She then moved on to the larger European political landscape, saying, “we are at a critical turning point in history.”
She made reference to the “responsibility which falls on the shoulders of European leaders to design today the vision of how Europe will move forward collectively.”
“It is our responsibility to preserve our history, democracy itself, our principles, and our culture for future generations. Therefore, we must show determination and quick reflexes, making every effort to find solutions together,” she said.
This future, she said, can be achieved by “aiming to ensure, develop, and protect the European culture and way of life, to successfully cross the threshold of the digital and green transitions, and by fully respecting the particularities and different local variations of each European state and people.”