This year, Europe Day (May 9) is dedicated to Europe and Democracy, and in particular to the 50th anniversary of the restoration of Democracy in Greece, with discussions and events in view of the upcoming European elections, organized by the Delegation of the European Commission in Greece in collaboration with the Office of the European Parliament in Greece on Sunday, May 12, in Athens, at Anassa City Events (12:30-18:00).

Visitors, among others, will have the opportunity to browse the stands of the services of the European Commission and European organizations operating in Greece, such as the EU Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA), stands of embassies of Member States of the European Union, state youth organizations , Europe DIRECT centers and NGOs and to attend the award ceremony of the distinguished works in the student painting competition “Above the Stars the Stage, teenagers paint the Republic” of the Children’s Gallery of Greece.

In addition, the vice-president of the European Commission, responsible for the Promotion of our European way of life, Margaritis Schinas, will talk to young men and women in an open dialogue event, which will be moderated by George Pasparakis.

The rest of the program includes an event by the Office of the European Parliament in Greece, with the participation of schools of ambassadors of the European Parliament, with a discussion on “Democracy, Citizenship and Publishing through the path of journalism from print to the internet”, with students who collaborated with the Student Newspapers of “Vima tis Kyriaki” for the special edition for Europe Day. The Student Newspapers of “Vimas” have been honored in the context of the Education Leaders Awards and have been placed under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Religion and Sports.

Visitors will also be able to find out about important European policies and funding, about government scholarships in Greece and other EU member states and about opportunities to participate in the ERASMUS+ program, as well as about a number of important social and environmental actions from the society of citizens in Greece.

Specifically:

  • for road safety issues from the Panos Mylonas Road Safety Institute (European Citizen Award 2011),
  • for health issues from Checkpoint, an NGO in the field of preventive medicine for sexually transmitted diseases, whose work has been praised by, among others, the European Parliament (European Citizen Award 2023),
  • for issues of equality and combating discrimination against LGBTI+ people from Athens Pride (Athens Pride Festival),
  • for wildlife protection actions by the Hellenic Ornithological Society,
  • for actions to protect the marine environment by the NGO “Enalia” and
  • for actions supporting children with disabilities from ELEPAP (European Citizen Award 2021).

The program is completed with:

  • the interactive workshop with volunteers of the International and European Affairs Group ODETH/Together.eu “I am becoming an active citizen!”
  • knowledge games, interactive workshops and demonstrations from the Laboratory of Robotics, Automatic Control and Cyberphysical Systems (RCCL) of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens,
  • demonstrations by the Research University Institute of Communication & Computer Systems (ICCS) of the National Technical University of Athens,
  • resume building activities from the Research and Training Institute for European Issues IRTEA,
  • the interactive game for young and old “Geography is very cool” and
  • with the team of “Glossonauts” and their activities.

DG ECFIN (European Commission), DG HOME (European Commission), DG REFORM (European Commission), the European Investment Bank, the Greece 2.0 Recovery Fund, Europe Direct of Piraeus Municipality participate in the celebration with their own stands and interactive activities , Europe Direct Attica – PRAXI Network and Europe Direct ELIAMEP, the NSRF National Coordination Authority, the State Scholarship Foundation (IKY) and the Youth and Lifelong Learning Foundation (INEDIVIM).

Finally, the embassies of the following Member States of the European Union participate: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, France, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Austria, Romania, Slovenia.

PRIDE FM producers and Bugarabu percussion group will curate the music throughout the programme.

The entrance is free.

Details of the program at the following email address here