Ladies and gentlemen, friends of Thrace,
I am very happy and excited because in spite of the unfavorable for all of us economic situation, and I would not exaggerate if I said that it’s a tragic situation, we found the courage and the strength to look to the face reality, all together without blaming anyone else.
The Economic Forum of Thrace wears infant shoes. But they are shoes with very sturdy soles, as the Swiss climbers wear, with strong cords like ropes, walking towards a high education school. We wear robust soles to avoid slipping in the down hills and in order to climb easily to the hills and we have tight laces so as to tie and bind all the Thracians, Greeks, our friends and neighbors.
We are all one and each one of us is the whole. Generalities yes, but it is the truth that unfortunately we have lent somewhere and we do not demand it back.
Nothing starts right from the beginning, if we don’t tell the truth to ourselves and if we don’t hear the truth from our neighbor. Because even if we accept the fact that our neighbor is malicious and glad to see our house being burned to the ground, he will not be happy for long because the fire will go to his own house as well. So I say thinking with my plain mind: “let’s look at our house.”
Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker, an original philhellene and Thracian, provides us once again with the time to tide up our home. This time let’s make a good use of it.
I am delighted that today significant personalities have accepted our invitation and are honoring us by bringing us a little closer to reality and much closer to solutions.
Thrace is not an ephemeral goldmine, that can be taken advantage of five people who will destroy one of the most beautiful, ancient and rich soil of Europe. Conversely, it is a priceless treasure that belongs to nature, people and should be used with the respect it deserves, in order to give all the generations that will follow a healthy home.
Thank you very much and I hope to have a dialogue that will unite us and show us how simple it is to invest in our productive wealth.
Katerina Karajanni,
President of the Economic Forum of Thrace.
