Bakoyannis for Ukraine: We live in the 11th of September in Europe

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“We live in 9/11 in Europe,” Athens Mayor Costas Bakoyannis told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, referring to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Mr. Bakoyannis – who participates in the Forum of Mediterranean Mayors, which ends today in Florence, when asked by the Italian newspaper about the possible development of the crisis, answered:

“It will be a marathon, not a sprint, we can not make decisions on Twitter. I believe, however, that sanctions will only be the beginning: if Europe, NATO and the West as a whole continue to follow the path of cooperation, much more can be done in the coming months. It’s the challenge of the twenty-first century. “

“For some time now, the forces of division and authoritarianism have been trying to impose themselves. “But we can not allow our ideals, the ideals of democracy and human freedom to be challenged,” the mayor of Athens told La Repubblica.

At the same time, in his speech today at the Forum of the Mayors of the Mediterranean, in the historic hall “Sala de Chinquencento” of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Costas Bakoyannis underlined:

“We are all shocked by the barbarity of the war and scared of what is happening in Ukraine. “But we are also proud of the courage shown by the Ukrainian people.”

Finally, referring to the Mediterranean, its cities and peoples, Mr. Bakoyannis said:

“Today’s challenge for cities is to maintain their solidarity and participatory character. We must defend the only truth that the peoples of the Mediterranean have been defending for millennia: that they have continued to be in constant contact with each other. “It is important to preserve the traditions that are part of our identity, to remember that for millennia, the peoples of the Mediterranean have remained in touch, despite belonging to different religions and cultures.”

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