President Iohannis: Greek language helps us talk about democracy, condemn xenophobia

Today's Romania is the fruit of history that brought Romanians in contact with peoples and communities of cultural identities that enriched not only our cultural heritage, but also the diversity of European civilization, says President Klaus Iohannis, in a message transmitted on Monday on the occasion of the Greek Language Day. "The Greek Language Day gives me the opportunity to send congratulations to the members of the Greek community in Romania and to their representatives in the structures of public authorities and institutions. (...) The Greek spoken today is the continuation of the language of the first Greeks who settled on the Black Sea coast. Over two and a half millennia since then, the Greek language has been the vehicle through which the first ideas that prepared the revolutionary movements of 1821 and 1848 entered the Danube principalities. The Greek language helps us talk about democracy, condemn xenophobia; through philosophy we understand the world and through politics we avoid crises and tragedies," says Iohannis, in the message read by presidential adviser Sergiu Nistor during the event organized on this occasion at the Romanian Academy. The head of the state shows that the promulgation in our country's centenary year of the Greek Language Law and the provisions of this act demonstrate that the Romanian state and the Romanians regard the identity inheritance of the Greeks in Romania as a shared and valued heritage for the common good. "Today's Romania is the fruit of history that brought Romanians in contact with peoples and communities of cultural identities that have enriched not only our cultural heritage but also the diversity of European civilization. Romania respects and appreciates the culture and language of national minorities, as an expression of our country's commitment to the protection of all identities, both of the majority and of citizens belonging to national minorities. Between these events, the Greek Language Day reflects the mutual appreciation that characterizes, traditionally, the relationship between Romanians and Greeks," Klaus Iohannis underscores". AGERPRES (RO - author: Florentina Peia, editor: Andreea Rotaru; EN - author: Bogdan Gabaroi, editor: Simona Iacob)