Article in the newspaper PROTO THEMA
Giannis Pappas
New Democracy MP for the Dodecanese
Some policies respond to the needs of everyday life, while others shape a country’s course for generations to come. Insularity unquestionably belongs to the second category. It does not concern only the local communities of the islands. It concerns the country’s productive model, its geopolitical strength, social cohesion and, ultimately, our very vision for the Greece of tomorrow.
The joint initiative of the four island Regions, attended by the Minister of National Economy and Finance and President of the Eurogroup, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, confirmed that the discussion on insularity is entering a new era. An era in which it is no longer enough merely to manage the challenges facing island territories; we are now called upon to shape a comprehensive national vision for the role the Greek islands will play in Greece and Europe over the coming decades.
The real question is not how we can mitigate the disadvantages of insularity. It is how we can harness the unique advantages it offers. How we can turn our geography into strategic added value, our sea into a driving force for growth, and our islands into pillars of innovation, outward-looking development and national strength.
More than any other European country, Greece is inextricably linked to the sea. Its history, economy, culture and international presence were built upon its island identity. For this reason, island development cannot be treated as merely one component of regional policy. It is a national choice, linked to the country’s resilience, its demographic prospects, the energy transition, security and its geostrategic position in the Eastern Mediterranean.
From the outset, the New Democracy government placed insularity at the heart of its planning. The task now, however, is to move beyond individual interventions towards a coherent strategy focused on the future. A strategy that links infrastructure with growth, the digital transition with equal access to services, innovation with the creation of high-quality jobs, and the green and blue economies with a new productive model for island territories.
My proposal to further strengthen the principle of insularity institutionally within the Constitution is also grounded in this approach. Not as an isolated institutional initiative, but as the natural continuation of a deeper political conviction: that insularity must be a constant consideration in every public policy, rather than an exception invoked only when problems arise.
The great challenge of our time is not to adapt the islands to policies designed at the centre. It is to design the Greece of tomorrow by taking the potential of its islands as our starting point. We must invest in their people, make use of their comparative advantages, and create the conditions that will allow younger generations to envisage their future in the places they call home.
With our eyes firmly set on the future, we must forge a new national compact for island Greece. A plan that strengthens social cohesion, unleashes the productive potential of every island, and transforms the geography of our homeland into a force for growth, security and progress.
Because our islands do not lie at the edge of Greece.
They are where its future begins.
