ATHENS — Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis participated in a video conference with representatives of Greek communities in Latin America, held on Monday.

The premier said he was "moved by the Greek flags set behind them, wherever these people may be, in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Panama, Uruguay and the rest of Latin American countries".

It is of the utmost significance to sustain the element of unity that defines Hellenism abroad, noted Mitsotakis. "It is my obligation to protect the unity of Hellenism", he underlined.

The Prime Minister also referred to the Greek language-learning platform "StaEllinika", which was launched in April 2020 at North American schools under the supervision of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America's department of education. Support for Spanish and Portuguese languages will be added before year's end, he noted. The program was conceived and supported by the Secretariat General for Public Diplomacy & Greeks Abroad of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Centre for Hellenic Studies at Simon Fraser University (SFU), Vancouver, Canada.

The government has already sent hundreds of textbooks to Latin American countries for the needs of local schools, said the premier, and promised to consider sending more teachers from Greece to the larger communities as of the start of the upcoming school year.

Greeks abroad can always access www.gov.gr, where they can find several useful services, due to be extended to consular authorities soon.

The representatives thanked Kyriakos Mitsotakis for the government's efforts thus far; no other Prime Minister ever contacted the Greek community in Latin America, said President of Greek Federations of Brazil Stavros Kyriopoulos.