On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the restoration of democracy in Greece, the President emphasized the need to protect the country’s democracy and highlighted that it has undergone “multiple hits.”

Papoulias stressed that no price is enough and there are no words that can express gratitude to those who fought to topple the junta.

At the same time, he made extensive references to Cyprus by stressing that “we are looking at Cyprus which remains divided after 40 years and today is still whipped by another crisis that it faces with determination and effectiveness which does not touch and will continue not to touch the overall management of the national cause. ”

The Greek President of the Democracy does not deny Democracy’s backsliding on account of the crisis, while he described the situation as “the most dramatic side effect of an economic adventure.”

He also pointed out that there was a brutal injury n the quality of parliamentarism, the confrontation between the parties, the political dialogue, but also the decision-making process of the national executive power.

Referring to the Golden Dawn, he stressed that ” For the first time in Greek history a new-Nazi parison which preaches hatred and strife has acquired power “. He continued by saying that: “One can try many interpretations for this phenomenon, which does not honor us as a country and as people, but still the essence is that Democracy suffered multiple blows” .

On the matter of the ” signatures ” Mr. Papoulias did not avoid mentioning the criticism he received at times.

He answered to his detractors that “the Constitution clearly defines the responsibilities of the President of Democracy and it was my decision to respect the Constitution, which has long struggled in recent years, and not to violate the institutional order, causing political impressions or even a political crisis, just to avoid the political cost. ”

Further on, he spoke about the need for major structural reforms and radical changes in order to remove the causes of the fiscal derailment.

He stated that a hopeful prospect for the new generation must be created, in order to protect social cohesion, reduce striking inequalities and cause a shock reform, which will quickly bring changes everywhere-in the state, the organization of the economy and the functioning of institutions.

Finally, Mr Papoulias added that :”Our country went through a painful ordeal in order to become a European democracy. We must protect our Democracy, make it even better, deeper and fairer”.