President of the Hellenic Republic Constantine Tassoulas said “the last day of the year calls for reflection, ressponsibility, and devotion to duty,” in the full text of his New Year’s message released on Wednesday.

Greece needs collective unity to isolate hate, cowardice, and nihilism, and he underlined the importance of “knowledge, innovation” and a “strong institutional infrastructure” and the need to invest in education as a fuel for growth.

The Greek president also said that Greece had a “global presence” and he called for unity in order to manage global challenges.

The New Year’s Day message also focused on the meaning of duty and seven ways in which it could be expressed, sources said on Wednesday, interspersed with quotes and paraphrases of Greek poetry lines. “Let the new year be an opportunity to change everything that hurts us, relying on all that unites us,” he said.

According to the message, sources said, the seven manifestations of duty to remember are the following:
– the duty toward fellow-human beings, especially those facing trials, whether Greek or foreigners
– the duty to ensure that the restoration of the country after the economic crisis is continuous
– the duty to isolate the temptation of hate, self-absorption, division, and nihilism
– the duty to keep national security at the center of one’s thoughts, maintaining peace
– the duty to national self-awareness, pride and self-confidence beyond the Greek borders, as in Cyprus and Greek communities abroad
– the duty to become aware of the importance of the Greek language
– the duty of the state to every social group, and the duty of every social group to society at large.

On the occasion of farmers’ mobilizations in particular, President Tassoulas said, “The state and society are not ignoring the contribution and work of farmers and livestock breeders, and the state cannot but seek communication with them to set out its policy. At the same time and in a similar way, the agricultural world cannot but seek solutions to its real and serious problems by talking with the state sincerely and constructively for the purpose of food adequacy and security and the competitiveness of Greek products, as well as for social response and prosperity.”