The statement by former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in tonight's interview on Nikos Hatzinikolaou's "Enopios Enopio" that he feels "proud" of the Prespa Agreement is not just another political statement, it is a challenge to the memory, historical consciousness and dignity of a large part of Greek society, and therefore cannot go unanswered.
I do not write as a supporter of any party or as a defender of any faction. I write as a Greek citizen who believes that the history of a people cannot be transformed into a tool of political management or into a field of personal justification. Pride is not a personal feeling arbitrarily declared by a politician. It is a collective feeling that is gained through consensus, trust and respect for society. When hundreds of thousands of citizens took to the streets to express their opposition, they did not do so for partisan reasons but because they felt that a part of their historical identity was being affected, and in a democracy such voices are not ignored or underestimated.
Macedonia is not a technical term of foreign policy nor a negotiating piece on a diplomatic table. It is part of the historical continuity of Hellenism and therefore an agreement that recognized a name, language and identity, causing deep social anxiety and division, cannot be presented as a self-evident success. In issues of such historical gravity, social consensus is not a luxury but a prerequisite, and the absence of a direct popular verdict left behind a strong feeling of alienation, as many citizens felt that they did not participate in a decision that concerned their very identity. Even more worrying than the agreement itself is the insistence on presenting it as a national triumph, because this does not show self-confidence but contempt for the disagreement of a society that remains deeply divided on the issue to this day. In a mature democracy, the political leader listens even when he disagrees, he does not turn disagreement into an occasion for self-affirmation, nor does he present as a success something that a large part of the citizens experienced as a concession.
Greece does not need statements of self-admiration but political responsibility, historical awareness and respect for collective memory, because pride in such a controversial agreement does not unite but hurts, does not heal but keeps open a wound that requires seriousness and humility to deal with. I do not write as a voter, I do not write as anyone's ideological opponent, I write as a Greek who believes that history is not conceded, is not negotiated and cannot become an object of political pride when it leaves behind division and bitterness, because this issue is not a matter of party affiliation but a matter of memory, dignity and responsibility towards the homeland.
