ATHENS – As clear as is the case that George J. Tsunis is off to an excellent start as U.S. Ambassador the Greece, the criticisms of U.S. President Biden’s appointment of the distinguished businessman still ring in the ears of members of the Community who knew from the start that their fellow Greek-American was an excellent choice.

The English Edition of the Greek newspaper ‘Oikonomikos Tachidromos’ headlined its take with: ‘George J. Tsunis: An ambassador that ‘has the ear’ of the US President’.

Noting that Europeans are often puzzled by the traditional United States’ practice of selecting about one third of its ambassadors from outside the ranks of foreign service officers, picking mainly business persons but also people from various segments of the arts, the article begins by noting that, “certain quarters launched a bevy of spiteful comments when the US administration chose a successful Greek-American businessman, George J. Tsunis, to succeed Geoffrey Pyatt as the new US ambassador to Greece, rather than a career diplomat.”

The piece then emphasizes that, “everything so far shows that George Tsunis will probably prove to be one of the best American ambassadors to represent that nation in Athens, precisely because he’s not a ‘career diplomat’, but someone who empathizes with the needs and interests of this country, Greece – and especially when he also has access to the White House itself.”

The article spotlights that the latter fact was emphasized by the former Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi when she spoke at a reception held as part of the Delphi Forum in Washington DC, “in honor of Greek-American businessman and Greek Diaspora benefactor Angelo Tsakopoulos, who was honored with the Leader Award for his outstanding contribution to Hellenism over the decades.”

The article continues, “the very fact that Pelosi referred to Amb. Tsunis during Tsakopoulos’ award ceremony shows that the Greek-American community still carries significant political weight in America, and can also serve as an important foreign policy tool, along with the promotion of Greek interests.”

After acknowledging that, “the U.S. ambassador to Greece first and foremostly represents the interests of his country in Athens,” the article points out that, “his national origin, his close relationship with the institutions of the Greek Diaspora and his sincere love for his country of origin lend to a better understanding and a greater sensitivity for Greek positions… such a development is a favorable condition, because it’s always good to have someone that ‘the President of the United States listens to’ – as long as Greece has something to say, of course, and that his something is based on planning.”

(Material from the English Oikonomikos Tachidromos is used in this article)