«No, don’t look at me like that… I won’t make you feel uncomfortable. No more than necessary. You know that this video could begin or end with an imposing shot of the Acropolis. Or the Olympics. Or the deep blue waters of the Aegean. Or with people losing their jobs and homes. Or others sleeping in tiny carton boxes. Or others driving luxurious cars. But this shall not happen. Because this video wasn’t made to impress nor to shock you. Because these words are not a scream. They’re a whisper.
I could be reading this in English, or German, or French, or Spanish or Portuguese, or Finnish. But this won’t happen. Because I want to speak to you in my language. The same way I’d like you to think in yours. Whatever language you speak. In every language. Because they’re all ours. Because we’re all European citizens. Proud people. And we have the right to be different. Provided we’re happy with everyone’s fundamental right to happiness. The people of my generation. And your generation. No matter what that is. And whatever the gender, or the religion, or the sexual preference is and every ambition and dream as well. Because the right to survival, to work, to optimism, the right to live, in every sense, is mutual.
My words are a call for a mutual hug. And an honest, a sincere, “I like to see you smile”. In the years to come. That’s what European Integration is all about. Now is our chance. The so-called “Apathetic Generation”, “Generation-Y”, the generation of deprivities, the “screen generation”, the melancholic generation, the “lost generation”, can be the first generation in modern history who will some day recite the story of dreaming about something better. And making it happen. We can be that generation. The proudest. Us Greeks became the guinea pig of austerity. Because we dared to implement it. And we made it. In paper. And yet we are dying. In life. Now we dare to be the guinea pig of hope. For a fairer Europe. With lots of hard work. With honesty. Together. Don’t leave us alone. Don’t be afraid. I want and I can contribute. I can bear it. As long as I have the right to smile. You?»