The Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted an official event on Monday, February 9, at the National Library of Greece, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, on the occasion of World Greek Language Day. The President of the Hellenic Republic, Konstantinos Tasoulas, addressed the event. The Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, was the keynote speaker. A discussion subsequently took place between the Minister of Foreign Affairs, George Gerapetritis, and Professor of Linguistics Georgios Babiniotis. The event was complemented by the orchestra and choir of the Alimos Music School.

Speaking at the event, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis highlighted, among others:

“I will briefly attempt to share with you some thoughts on the significance of today’s occasion.

Almost seventy years have passed since the international community listened to and understood Xenophon Zolotas as he addressed it in English, using exclusively Greek terms—English words of Greek origin.

Today, the universality of the Greek language is formally recognized as it acquires its own distinct and honorary day within the pantheon of UNESCO-recognized languages. This development may serve as a starting point for progress in the Greek language’s long journey through time.

We are speaking of a language that is, in essence, omnipresent in philosophy, theatre, literature, the sciences, and, of course, politics.

It is a linguistic system for the production of concepts and the depiction of reality that has shaped human thought from the earliest written testimonies of the Mycenaean era to the present day, always placing at its core the pursuit of truth through dialogue.

It is also the first language to recognize the human being as a citizen, measure as a necessity, virtue as moral integrity, and freedom together with beauty as intrinsic values. These are distinctly Greek elements, attested by the many monuments and the hundreds of thousands of inscriptions.

At the same time, these are ideas which, passed down from generation to generation, lent their unique substance to the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, and later inspired momentous political events such as the French and American Revolutions and, of course, following the War of Independence, the Greek Revolution of 1821.

Greek thus became our “bridge” to the world, ultimately placing modern Greece at the heart of the West and at the heart of Europe.

It is an intangible source of progress, as well as a source of international prestige, which already affords our country a distinct role and voice in a world that is being transformed and changing at an unprecedented pace.

For everything, there is a Greek word. It is a particularly interesting challenge to trace the Greek equivalents of words in the established dominant languages.

The Greek language not only survives but continues to be enriched and transmitted, despite the fact that for centuries there was no unified state to protect it. The unity of the Greek language does not lie in uniformity, but in its continuity through diversity.

It is a cultural capital of more than 3,000 years that continues to nourish the intellectual world. It is also a language ready to travel into the vast universe of algorithms and artificial intelligence, and to claim there, too, its own role in relation to the future and the most widely used linguistic codes.

It is of great importance that we have created the first Greek language model, “PHAROS,” one of the first seven artificial intelligence factories in Europe, so that the data of global knowledge can now be stored also in Greek, as a source for drawing conclusions.

Supporting the Greek language is a national priority. We currently maintain 81 academic chairs, programs in 33 countries.

It is particularly significant that today Greek is recognized by UNESCO as a global constant and an important cultural value.”

The full text of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ speech is available here.

The video of the event is available here:

TAGS: GREEK LANGUAGE