While accepting the prestigious award, President of Latvia underlined that it is an honour to receive the award in the city which is considered the birthplace of the democracy. Egils Levits also pointed out that when he read the works of the Greek philosopher Thucydides he was captivated by his ideas on democracy as a majority rule. President Levits also mentioned that Greek Administrative Law was one his sources of reference when drafting the Latvian Administrative Law and many good practices in Latvia have been transferred from Greece.
Egils Levits and Kostas Bakoyannis discussed the current agenda of the European Union (EU) and socio-economic and political processes in Latvia and Greece. Mayor of Athens enquired about Latvia’s experience in overcoming the 2008 financial crisis and acknowledged Latvia’s successful recovery after the crisis. Mayor also underlined that Greece has learned from these valuable lessons in the last years as it recovered from the deep financial crisis. Mayor Bakoyannis mentioned that Athens is now a fast-growing city and added that despite the economic and financial downfall population still strongly believes in the EU.
President and Mayor exchanged experiences on promotion of re-emigration in Latvia and Greece. Mayor of Athens indicated that many young people have left Greece due to the crisis and there is a strong commitment to bring them back to their homeland.
Egils Levits informed Mayor of Athens about the meeting between the presidents of European parliamentary democracies, which starts tomorrow. Kostas Bakoyannis praised the priorities proposed by President Levits in the agenda and determination of Egils Levits to focus on solidarity, identity and tackling of inequality.
President of Latvia Egils Levits and other heads of state of 12 European countries will meet in Athens on 11 October. The name of presidential discussion, the Arraiolos Group meeting, is derived from the Portuguese town of Arraiolos, where the first meeting took place 15 years ago. Meetings are attended by presidents of European parliamentary democracies who have similar presidential powers. 15th Arraiolos Meeting will focus on security challenges faced by the EU member states, economy and migration. Meeting is a good opportunity to also hold bilateral meetings. Joint post-meeting press conference with all participating presidents is scheduled for 5.00pm, Friday, 11 October.
