Freedom or Death: Zelenskyy Addressed The Hellenic Parliament on Thursday, Urging for Help And More EU Support.
Athens, Thursday, 7 April 2022
On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Greece to use its power in the European Union to assist in the preservation of "our shared legacy" in the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.
The Ukrainian leader told the Greek Parliament by teleconference that thousands of people are stuck in Mariupol, which has been nearly completely destroyed. The Russian military, he claimed, had bombed hospitals, theatres, and homes.
"The barbarity towards the civilian population has caused immense hardship in both the Greek and Ukrainian communities," Zelenskyy told legislators.
He claimed it's impossible to pinpoint when Greeks first settled along the Black Sea, but that "peaceful coexistence" was a given, a tribute to the city's Greek ties. In their fight against the Russian troops, he claimed, Ukrainians are chanting their own "Freedom or Death," a reference to the Greek war cry from the 1821 War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire.
He also cited the Filiki Etaireia, an Odessa-based underground group that laid the groundwork for the Greek Revolution and the contemporary Greek state.
"The Filiki Etaireia was founded here, and this is quite significant." To fight, to defend Ukraine and the [ethnic] Greek population, we may form a new Filiki Etaireia. "Mariupol requires your quick assistance," he stated.
Zelenskyy also congratulated Greece for joining other EU member states in imposing sanctions on Russia, but he warned that Ukraine is still being destroyed, and he reaffirmed calls for other EU countries to refuse Russian oil and entirely exclude Russian banks from the international financial system.
He also appealed for more armaments to help Ukraine defend itself against the Russian invasion.
(Source: Kathimerini // Edited by: The Decision Maker – International Relations editors)