Athenian democracy

It is a great honor for me to be speaking tonight at the University of Piraeus. I have devoted much of my professional life to this beautiful and historic port city. Zea, which is the famous harbor next to the university, was, of course, the center of the ancient Athenian fleet. Tens of thousands of working-class Athenians served in this fleet and lived right here in the Piraeus.

US President Joe Biden noted that the Greek-US alliance has never been stronger in the annual proclamation of March 25th as Greek Independence Day. He said his country's founders had been inspired by ancient Athenian Democracy and extolled the contributions of Greek-Americans to the US economy, noting his own longstanding ties to the Greek-American community.

The cosmopolitan city of Melbourne in Australia, which also happens to be the capital of the Greek diaspora, is currently hosting the recreation of the Parthenon on the Acropolis as "The Temple of Boom." Australia is a beacon of democracy, and has embedded similar values and an institutional framework to those of the ancient Athenian democracy, very much like other full democracies.

Australians continue to study the celebrated funeral oration attributed to Pericles at school and at university. Often the French are surprised to learn this. For them, Australia is simply a distant land with fierce bushfires and very strange animals. Yet studying ancient Greece in Australia dates back to the arrival of Europeans two centuries ago.

A large group of self-styled anarchists broke into the capital's Pnyx Hill archaeological site on Sunday and vandalized guard boxes, attacking restrictions on public access to the site, the union representing Greek antiquities' guards said Tuesday.

An abandoned old house collapsed in Athens' so-called historical centre on Tuesday, private broadcaster Skai reported.

No people appeared to be trapped inside and no injuries were reported from passersby.

The house was located on Iouliou Smith street, right behind the Hill of the Pnyx - an area visited by hundreds of tourists.

The Culture Ministry on Thursday condemned an attack on Wednesday night against a guard posted outside the Pnyx archaeological site by two masked assailants bearing sledgehammers.

In a statement, the ministry said it "categorically condemned" the assault in which the attackers threatened the guard and vandalized his sentry box though inflicted no injuries.

This is already our second meeting in Athens as our countries' heads of state. This place compares to no other in Europe with regard to our deep, common roots, which extend far beyond relations between Germany and Greece. Today's Europe would be inconceivable without the Greek legacy or without the Athenian democracy of Pericles.

One of the few positive things to happen in Greece in the years of the crisis was the establishment of the annual New York Times' forum on democracy in Athens.

The Greek Police has ordered that the Acropolis station of the Athens metro be closed as of 4 p.m. on Thursday as part of security measures for the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron.