“The Greek national identity of the Vlachs cannot be disputed,” said the MP of Serres and the Secretary of International Relations and EU of the New Democracy, Mr. Tasos Hatzivasiliou, speaking at the 2nd International Scientific Conference of the Panhellenic Federation.
Referring to the contribution of the Vlachs to the historical and social course of Hellenism, Mr. Chatzivasiliou stressed that “the Vlach -speaking are an integral part of the whole described as Hellenism”, while stressing that “their Greek mind was their flag”. As he pointed out, “the Vlachs pioneered the Greek Revolution, gave heroes of warriors to the Macedonian struggle, distinguished themselves in the Asia Minor campaign and the 1940 war.”
The Serra MP referred extensively to the identities of the Ottoman Empire nationals, explaining that Tanzimat’s reforms and the emergence of ethnic communities created new facts in the concepts of faith and national consciousness. As he said, “many researchers have tried to describe the elements of Vlach identity in terms of ethnic consciousness, but the historical truth is that the Vlachs remained committed to the Greek national idea.”
Parking on the role of the Vlach -speaking Greeks in the country’s economic and social progress, Mr Hadjivasiliou noted that “with their economic power and commercial demon, the Vlachs managed to record a strong presence over the centuries”, and added that “their confession”.
Referring to historical sources, Mr. Chatzivasiliou referred to the efforts of the 19th -century Romanian nationalist propaganda to attach the Greek Vlachs, recalling that they “consciously chose the Greek national identity, often at the expense of their mother.” As he typically said, “the Vlachs wanted the spread of Greek national consciousness and language, demonstrating their faith in the idea of Hellenism.”
In his speech, Tasos Hatzivasiliou also highlighted the contribution of the first constitutional texts of the Greek state in shaping the concept of the Greek citizen, noting that “from the homogeneous and the homosexual, the national identity of the modern Greeks has reached it.” “The attempt to embrace all those who had Greek minds, regardless of language or idiom, was not always smooth, but determined the nation’s physiognomy,” he said.
Concluding his speech, the MP of Serres pointed out that “the Vlach -speaking Greeks are not a graphic remnant of the old mountaineer life but a living link of Greek identity and national continuity”. “Their contribution to culture, economy and collective progress is a historical chapter that unites and inspires us,” he concluded.
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