Operation concludes to get Greek nationals out of Ukraine: Foreign Ministry

An operation to evacuate Greek nationals, diplomats and journalists from Mariupol in Ukraine successfully concluded Friday, according to the Greek Foreign Ministry.

Deputy FM Gerontopoulos visits Moldova

Hellenic MFA, Friday, 24 October 2014:

 

Deputy Foreign Minister Kyriakos Gerontopoulos visited Moldova on Thursday, 23 October. He met in the capital, Chisinau, with Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and European Integration Iulian Groza, with whom he discussed Greek-Moldovan bilateral relations, developments in the wider region, and issues concerning Moldova’s European perspective. Mr. Groza expressed his government’s gratitude to Greece, during whose EU Presidency, in the first half of 2014, the Schengen visa requirement was waived for Moldovan citizens.

Deputy PΜ and FΜ Venizelos’ programme within the framework of his participation in the Ministerial Week of the 69th UN General Assembly (Sunday, 21 September 2014)

Hellenic MFA, Saturday, 20 September 2014:

 

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos will start his meetings in New York, within the framework of his participation in the Ministerial Week of the 69th UN General Assembly, with a meeting at 16:15 (local time) tomorrow, Sunday, 21 September, with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Gökçeada, (“Imbros” in Greek), Greek high school will not open in 2014, after 50-year closure

Gökçeada’s Greek High School was unable to open this year, after the Education Ministry did not grant permission on the grounds that the school’s building was not physically prepared for the academic year as of Sept. 1.

Gökçeada’s Greek community established the İmroz Education and Culture Association on April 18 to open the high school on the island.

After remaining closed for 50 years, the Private Gökçeada Greek Primary School was reopened in 2013. Located in the island’s Zeytinli village, the school only had four students from the small minority population.

Deputy FM Gerontopoulos meets with the Syriza MP responsible for foreign policy issues, Nadia Valavani, regarding the situation of the Greek community in Ukraine

Hellenic MFA, 1/9/14:
 
Deputy Foreign Minister Kyriakos Gerontopoulos met at the Foreign Ministry today, Monday, 1 September, with the Syriza MP responsible for foreign policy issues, Olga-Nadia Valavani, at the latter’s request.

Mr. Gerontopoulos briefed Ms. Valavani on the developments in Ukraine and specifically the situation of the members of the Greek Ukrainian community in the wider Mariupol area, as well as throughout the country. Mr. Gerontopoulos also mentioned the recent relocation, for security reasons, of the Mariupol Consulate General to the city of Dnipropetrovsk, as well as Greece’s readiness to contribute to handling emergency situations, should the need arise.

Foreign Ministry announcement on the immediate relocation of the Mariupol Consulate General (Hellenic MFA)

Hellenic MFA, Thursday, 28 August 2014:

 

“Due to the deterioration of security conditions in the wider area of Mariupol, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos approved the recommendation of Greece’s Consul General in Mariupol, Dimitrios Papandreou, that the Consulate General offices be moved immediately and temporarily relocated to the city of Dnipropetrovsk, which is within the Consulate General’s consular jurisdiction.

Quake in 1999 helped soothe tense Greek-Turkish relations

A Greek rescue team was among the first onsite after northwestern Turkey was hit by a massive earthquake....

 

By Handan Kazanci

When a cataclysmic earthquake, claiming more than 18,000 lives, hit northwestern Turkey (the cities include Adapazari, Kocaeli, Yalova, Istanbul, Duzce) fifteen years ago, August 17 1999, one of the first rescue teams to come to the country was from Greece, Turkey's nemesis throughout history.
Around three weeks later, it was Turkey's turn to help its neighbor when Athens was hit by another damaging earthquake on September 7.

Deputy FM Gerontopoulos meets with Metropolitan Polykarpos of Spain and Portugal

Hellenic MFA,  Friday, 25 July 2014:

Deputy Foreign Minister Kyriakos Gerontopoulos met today, Friday, 25 July 2014, with Metropolitan Polykarpos of Spain and Portugal.

 During the meeting, His Eminence, having expressed his gratitude for the support and assistance given to the Metropolis of Spain and Portugal, briefed Mr. Gerontopoulos on the issues and problems the Metropolis is facing, and they discussed the Greeks who live in the two countries of the Iberian Peninsula.

Foreign Ministry announcement regarding the situation in Imbros following today’s earthquake

Hellenic MFA, Saturday, 24 May 2014:

 

"Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos was briefed on the situation in Imbros, following today’s earthquake, by Greece’s Consul General in Istanbul, Mr. Matthioudakis, who is in ongoing contact with the Metropolitan and the Greek community on the island.

A team from the Consulate General, headed by consul Mr. Maligoudis, is on its way to the island.

Deputy FM Gerontopoulos meets with Archbishop Demetrios of America. -MFA

MFA, Tuesday, 01 April 2014

Deputy Foreign Minister Kyriakos Gerontopoulos met on Monday, 31 March – the last day of his visit to the U.S. – with Archbishop Demetrios of America, with whom he discussed issues concerning Orthodoxy and Hellenism abroad.

Following the meeting, Mr. Gerontopoulos made the following statement:

“It was a great honor to be received by His Eminence. I learned a lot from our discussion, for I believe that the Church is the foundation of Hellenism throughout the world. What I want to underscore is that our Patriarchates are the outposts not only of Christianity, but of Hellenism through the globe.

Hellenic MoFA: Deputy PM and FΜ Venizelos’ statement to representatives of the Greek Communities of Ukraine (Mariupol, 2 March 2014)

MFA, 2/3/14
Mr. Chancellor,
Dear Friends,

I am very pleased to be here today, in Mariupol, with the administration of the Federation of Greek Associations of Ukraine, which is based in Mariupol, and with representatives of the Hellenism of Ukraine – particularly of this region, which has a very large Greek element.

I am here precisely because Ukraine is going through a very critical time. Greece, as the Presidency of the Council of the European Union at this time, wants to contribute as much as it can to the stabilization of the situation in Ukraine, to there being order, to there being security, to there being a transitional government – democratic, inclusive – in which all of Ukraine’s political, social and regional forces participate; a government that will lead the country to the restoration of democratic order, to presidential elections, to the functioning of a smooth system.

Cyprus says could be close to peace talks breakthrough

NICOSIA - Cyprus said on Wednesday it was close to reviving stalled peace talks between the island's Greek and Turkish communities who have been locked in a festering, decades-old conflict that is harming Turkey's hopes of joining the EU.
The United Nations has been toiling for months on the wording of a 'joint statement' to restart negotiations between the island's two dominant groups that broke off in mid-2012.

Hellenic MoFA: Deputy FM Gerontopoulos visits Alexandria.

Ελληνικός Ναυτικός Όμιλος Αλεξάνδρειας (ΕΝΟΑ) ιδρύθηκε το 1909

MFA, Sunday, 24 November 2013

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Deputy Foreign Minister Kyriakos Gerontopoulos visited the Greek Community in Alexandria on Saturday, 23 November.

After a tour of the historic Greek quarter and a briefing on Community issues from the Community President, Ioannis Siokas, and Board of Directors, Mr. Gerontopoulos made the following statement: “I was impressed with the work being done here, with the primary school, middle school and high school, the retirement home that provides free relief to our elderly compatriots, as well as the remarkable facilities. Through my presence here, Greece wants to show its gratitude and acknowledge this contribution.”

Deputy FM Gerontopoulos visits Johannesburg’s SAHETI Greek school – Meetings with the Greek community (18 November 2013)

Hellenic MoFA,Tuesday, 19 November 2013

Deputy Foreign Minister Kyriakos Gerontopoulos today visited Johannesburg’s SAHETI Greek school, which celebrates the 40th anniversary of its founding this year.

Mr. Gerontopoulos was welcomed by Georgios Bizos – the school’s founder, lawyer to Nelson Mandela, and emblematic figure in South Africa – members of the board of directors, teaching staff, and students. Mr. Bizos expressed his gratitude to Mr. Gerontopoulos for the longstanding support of the Greek state in SAHETI’s efforts to maintain the Greek language and culture through the provision of educators seconded from Greece.

FM Bushati receives his Greek counterpart: Greece must lift the War Act.

By Ariola Imeri ,Tirana, October 14, 2013
At the end of the meeting with the Greek Foreign Minister, Evangelos Venizelos, the Albanian Foreign Minister, Ditmir Bushati declared that this meeting discussed on issues that join the two countries and the intensification of collaboration.

The head of the Albanian diplomacy praised the projects of the Greek government to the Albanian community in Greece, by encouraging their integration.

Amongst others, he praised the role of the Greek community in Albania, by stressing that our country respects the minorities in Albania.

Greek minority school set to reopen with two pupils in Turkey...

An elementary school for the Greek minority on the island of Gökçeada (“Imbros” in Greek) will reopen on Sept. 16 after 49 years of being closed, but with only two students.

The Hagia Todori Elementary School is reopening after Turkey’s Education Ministry accepted on March 28 the demand to open a school for Greek minority on Gökçeada, an island off the northwestern province of Çanakkale.

The school, which was opened in the island’s Zeytinli village in 1951 as the Hagia Todori Elementary School, was closed in 1964.

After the Education Ministry’s decision, the school has been prepared to be reopened for the new semester, but with only a tiny proportion of its 72-student capacity. Three teachers and one janitor will accompany the two students as the sole crew of the school.

Warning over visa delay

Vamvakinou says Greece could be misled by suggestions that a change of government in Australia would offer more 417 visas...

By Michael Sweet 
Maria Vamvakinou MP has told Neos Kosmos that the Greek government's reluctance to sign-off the working holiday visa agreement with Australia could be due to a perception in Athens that a Coalition government might amend the terms of the deal currently negotiated.
The agreement on the table will limit the number of working holiday visas (subclass 417) on offer to Greece to 500 annually.

Ηφαίστειο η ομογένεια

Αυστραλία: 25 Jan 2013
Του ΚΩΣΤΑ ΝΙΚΟΛΟΠΟΥΛΟΥ 
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Ηφαίστειο η ομογένεια, εξ αιτίας της εξωφρενικής απόφασης της Αθήνας να αρχίσει την πάταξη της φοροδιαφυγής από τον Ελληνισμό της διασποράς.
Αναρίθμητα τα τηλεφωνήματα διαμαρτυρίας οργισμένων συμπαροίκων στο «Νέο Κόσμο», που υβρίζουν θεούς και δαίμονες για την εμπλοκή τους σε γραφειοκρατικές διαδικασίες και δαπάνες, που είναι δυνατόν να αποφευχθούν με τη χρήση της κοινής λογικής.
Ο θυμός της ομογένειας για τη φορομπηχτική απόφαση της ελληνικής Πολιτείας κορυφώθηκε από τη Δευτέρα, που ο «Νέος Κόσμος» δημοσιοποίησε τα δικαιολογητικά, που υποχρεούνται να υποβάλλουν στην εφορία της Ελλάδας οι Ελληνοαυστραλοί πολίτες, που έχουν οικονομικά ενδιαφέροντα στην Ελλάδα.

Greek tax nightmare for diaspora

Relations with Greece and the diaspora have soured following a decision by the Greek govt to double tax Greeks abroad....

Australia 24 Dec 2012

Kostas Nikolopoulos

A decision by the Greek Government to double tax Greeks abroad who fail to declare their financial interests in Greece has soured the relations of the Greek diaspora with the mother country.
The law (3943/2011) passed by the Greek parliament last year entangles the diaspora in the cogs of the infamous Greek bureaucracy which rates amongst the lowest in the world. The controversial law compels all Greeks abroad who spent more than six months in Greece to declare their “global income”, that is their income in Greece and their countries of permanent residence, to avoid being double taxed.

Greece may benefit from Australia’s UN security seat

Australia: 23 Oct 2012

Penni Pappas

Australia's links to Greece and Cyprus may work to the countries' benefit after Australia won its bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council, according to Maria Vamvakinou MP. She says the advocacy of diaspora communities in Australia have ensured that issues pertaining to Greece and Cyprus are at the front of the minds of politicians as Australia takes its seat on the UN Security Council.
"The bilateral relationship between Australia and Greece is in excellent condition and operates in various levels," Ms Vamvakinou told Neos Kosmos.
"The Greek community in Australia has very strong links to Greece itself and as a result of that our relationships at that level are very close and that feeds into the parliament to parliament relationship and government to government."