Greece once again honored October 28th with parades, flags, and children's voices singing "Long Live Greece."
And yet, behind the emotion, there was a silent difference that cannot go unnoticed.
The children who march speak Greek,
but they are not all Greek children anymore.
They are children of other nationalities, who grew up here, learned the language and joined the ranks.
And that, in itself, is not bad.
It's bad that the children of Greece were not there.
Many Greek children could not bear to stay in the country that gave birth to them.
Their families fled, chased by economic suffocation, poverty, and despair.
They had no support, no benefits, they did not have cards from NGOs,
nor the "extra privileges" that the state itself and the European Union offer to foreign populations.
Greek parents had nowhere to turn.
No one offered them shelter, free food, or medical care.
And so, the children of Greece were replaced — not because they weren't worthy, but because they didn't "belong" to any program.
Greece, which once stood tall for its freedom,
today she sees her own children migrating to survive,
while in their place stand children from other countries that the State cares for more than its own.
Children holding the flag,
while those born under it carry suitcases.
It's not the fault of the children who are marching.
It is the fault of a society that forgot to protect her own.
That does not offer equal care,
who remembers the heroes of the '40s but forgets the children of 2025.
October 28th is a national day of remembrance,
but this year it also became a mirror of a bitter truth:
that a country is not lost when it loses its wars,
but when she loses her children.
And if today in the parades Greek words were heard from mouths that were not born Greek,
Maybe it's time to ask:
who ultimately needs support, who are truly "foreigners" in this country,
and if Greece can find its children again before it is lost with them.
Sincerely,
Ioanna Lazarou
Publisher – Greek News & Radio FL | Businessrise Publishing
photo by GreekRadioFL
