ΑTHENS – During a discussion at the 33rd Greek Economic Summit that was held this week in Athens, two Greek-American members of Congress, John Sarbanes, Democrat of Maryland, and Nicole Malliotakis, Republican from New York, spoke about U.S.-Greece relations. Sarbanes noted that those bonds are very strong, and Malliotakis emphasized that Greece, as the cradle of democracy, shares common values with the United States which are the basis the basis for expanding bilateral relations even more.

Sarbanes noted the rise of U.S.-Greece cooperation in the energy, economic, and diplomatic domains and said he was optimistic that this cooperation will continue regardless of the party controlling the Houses of Congress and the White House.
The Congressman from Maryland, whose father is the late U.S. Senator Paul Sarbanes, made particular reference to Greece’s growing energy role, noting that Greece has very good opportunities to become an energy transit hub, adding that its role has become more important after the invasion of Ukraine.

Equally huge opportunities exist for Greece in the form of discoveries of hydrocarbon deposits in its EEZ in the Mediterranean, and Sarbanes urged their exploitation. However, he also said he was impressed by the speed with which Greece is moving towards renewable energy sources. “I was very impressed that one day, for five hours, the whole of Greece was powered by renewable energy sources,” recently, he said.

Sarbanes also offered assurances that the Greek-American community will continue to work and support the relationships between Greece, Cyprus, and the United States.
When Malliotakis addressed the gathering, she said she was proud to represent the Greek-American community and Greece in the U.S. House of Representatives, noting that this is the ambition of Greek-American in the United States.

Malliotakis declared that it was a proud moment for her to be present in the House of Representatives when Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis delivered a speech a few months ago. She noted that the Greek Prime Minister gave an excellent and engaging speech to members of Congress when he spoke about how the foundations of the two countries are similar, Greece as the cradle of democracy and the United States adopting those principles for its Republic. “This is a solid foundation that we need to grow,” she said.

Regarding geopolitical issues, Malliotakis mentioned the importance of bipartisan support for the legislative amendment to ban the U.S. sale of new F16 fighter jets and upgrades for Turkey’s existing fleet which Ankara uses provocatively against Greece.

She said the Russian invasion of Ukraine raised further the need for energy independence for countries and stressed that she supports clean energy and the diversification of energy sources, but without the exclusion traditional forms, like oil and gas. As a Republican member of Congress, she stressed the need for the United States to exploit domestic energy sources and increase energy production.