ASTORIA – Twenty-three Hellenic-American organizations welcomed Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to New York City at reception at Anassa Taverna in Astoria on September 24. Three distinguished Greek-Americans were also honored at the event for their contributions to the community and to the wider society.

Attendees enjoyed appetizers and drinks as they waited for the Prime Minister who arrived from his meetings at the United Nations General Assembly about an hour after the community members had begun to gather at the venue.

Mike Manatos, Executive Director of the Washington OXI Day Foundation, gave the welcoming remarks, referring to Mitsotakis’ historic speech at the joint session of Congress in 2022 and noting that a previous reception that welcomed Mitsotakis brought together 10 organizations, while this event had 23. Manatos then read the list of the organizations and thanked them for making the event possible: AHEPA, Alpha Omega Council, American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce, American Hellenic Institute, Alma Bank, Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Federation of Cypriot American Organizations, Federation of Hellenic-American Organizations of Philadelphia and the Greater Delaware Valley, Flagstar Bank, Hellenic-American Bankers Association, Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce, Hellenic-American Leadership Council, Hellenic-American National Council, Hellenic Federation of New Jersey, Hellenic Lawyers Association, Hellenic Medical Society of New York, Leadership 100, National Hellenic Museum, National Hellenic Society (NHS), Panhellenic Scholarship Foundation, the International Coordinating Committee Justice for Cyprus- PSEKA, The Hellenic Initiative (THI), and the Washington OXI Day Foundation.

His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros gave the opening prayer at the event.

Manatos then gave the floor to NHS Chairman and THI Board member Drake Behrakis who introduced the Prime Minister. Behrakis thanked Mitsotakis for taking the time out of his busy schedule during UN Week to join the community members for the event and congratulated the Prime Minister for receiving the Atlantic Council Global Citizen Award the day before. He also referred to the Prime Minister’s historic speech in 2022, “a moment of immense pride for all of us and a moment that we’ll all cherish forever, which showcased your stature as a leader of the Greek nation, as a key architect of the strong ties between the United States and Greece, a connection that makes us all very proud as Greek-Americans.”

“Under your leadership and vision, Greece has become and will remain a pillar of stability,” Behrakis noted. “Mr. Prime Minister we’ve always considered you one of our own, we know how much you appreciate and take pride in the generations of Greek-Americans, their diverse contributions in the U.S. and their vital role as a bridge between our nations and our people.”

Prime Minister Mitsotakis thanked both Manatos and Behrakis for their words of introduction, noting that “no visit to New York is complete without a gathering of the dynamic Greek-American community of this wonderful city, thank you so much for being here.”

He continued: “As Drake said, as a very stable and robust bridge between our two countries, today is another opportunity to honor distinguished members of the Greek-American community, I place particular emphasis on these events because I feel it is my obligation, our obligation, to recognize the very special work that is being done in the Greek-American community. You keep these strong bonds alive and powerful at a time when the world is faced with very complicated global challenges.”

“Greece is a pillar of stability and prosperity in a very turbulent part of the world and I place particular emphasis on the strategic depth of the relationship that Greece has with the United States, a strategic relationship that was exemplified probably at the highest level when I had the unique privilege of addressing the joint session of Congress in 2022, it was an opportunity for me to speak about the enduring bonds between our two countries, to highlight our common democratic tradition, to speak a little bit about the challenges that our modern democracies are facing in this era of polarization, but also probably what I remember most of this speech was the pride in the galleries when I saw your faces, the faces of the Greek-American community watching the Prime Minister of Greece addressing the legislative body of the United States.

“We are working to make this relationship as strong as it can possibly be and I know we have elections in the United States and I can assure you that whoever is elected, whoever the American people choose to represent them in the highest office, this relationship will go from strength to strength because it is in the mutual interest of our two countries to do so.

Greece is playing a pivotal role in the Eastern Mediterranean, trying in spite of the difficulties to normalize our relationship with Turkey, being an honest broker and talking to all the involved parties in order to try to resolve this emerging crisis in the Middle East. We all have an interest to work towards de-escalation and to ensue that this does not become a regional war, but at the same time we will continue to build the foundations of our own country as a prosperous and democratic society.

“And if the first four years of our mandate were all about stabilizing the country, recognizing we have left the difficult years of the crisis behind us, putting our public finances into order, returning to the world of normal European countries, the next four years are about making the great leap towards the future, achieving real convergence with the European Union, addressing the underlying problems that have held us back for many, many years, ensuring that the economy will continue to grow under a significantly faster pace than the rest of Europe, that we will continue to attract foreign direct investment, that we will continue to create jobs, that we will raise the living standards, improve wages, and as Drake said, encourage more Greeks who left Greece during the difficult years of the crisis to return, encourage more Greek-Americans, if not to return than to take a keener interest in our affairs, to invest in Greece, to spend more time in Greece, to send your kids to Greece to build the people to people foundations between our two countries and I’m very optimistic about this project.

“We have three years ahead of us without any elections, we are a strong government with a comfortable Parliamentary majority, and I feel that the mandate that I have received from the Greek people is a mandate of bold change. I am not interested in simply managing the affairs of the state. I am interested in making sure that Greece becomes the country it can actually be, a protagonist… thank you for the opportunity everyone, this is my ambition, and we want you, the Greek-American community to be part of this.

For the first time, in the recent European elections, we did something that was unthinkable, we allowed people to mail in their votes and you don’t have to return to Greece or go to the Consulate to vote… I am sure we will be able to do it again for the national elections. I do need to point out that we need 200 votes in Parliament in order to get to that threshold, but I am sure that looking at the success and the ability of the state to organize this mail-in system, no one will actually refuse, granting the right for those who live abroad to actually vote without having to either visit the Consulate or Embassy or returning to Greece as was the case. I think It is important for those who have a right to vote in Greece to be active in the affairs of the state, I don’t believe the argument that if that were to happen, and it will happen, that we will export the polarization of Greece abroad. No, I think you actually have the capability to look at things from a distance, to look at the big picture, to stay above the petty politics that quite frequently engulf us and senseless discussions that don’t talk about the real problems of the Greek people, so I am very much looking forward to your participation.

“I would also like you to know that one of our big projects is, when it comes to our interactions with our diplomatic missions, our consulates, to make your life easier. Digital technology will help us in this direction, this is a big project I have for the next three years.”

Mitsotakis then introduced the new Consul General: “We have a new Consul General in New York, Iphigenia Kanara, who arrived a week ago. We sent you one of our best and I’m very much looking forward to the work that she will do here. Rest assured that we will do whatever we can to make you proud of our homeland and strengthen these ties as someone who has spent many years in the U.S., who has seen the broken promises of various administrations when they spoke about the importance of this relationship, I want to make sure that we do things differently. We demonstrated that we can actually do that and we want you to be a part pf Greece’s success and I’m sure that you will do exactly that, thank you so much for your presence.”

Mike Manatos then introduced the honorees receiving one of Greece’s highest honor, the Commander of the Order of the Phoenix which was presented by Mitsotakis to ECOS President and CEO Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks, former President of American University Sylvia Mathews Burwell, and Founder and President of the Washington OXI Day Foundation Andrew E. Manatos. Burwell’s mother Cleo (née Maroudas) Mathews, who happened to be celebrating her birthday, was also among those present.