No. 29

Washington, DC - Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis visited Hellenic House to meet with American Hellenic Institute (AHI) President Nick Larigakis and members of the Board of Directors, May 2, 2018.

"We thank Admiral Apostolakis for taking time from his itinerary in Washington to meet with us," President Larigakis said. "We appreciated the opportunity to be briefed on developments in the Eastern Mediterranean and the close-working cooperation between the militaries of longstanding NATO allies, Greece and the United States.”

Admiral Apostolakis' visit to Washington comes at a critical time in U.S.-Greece defense cooperation as Greece approved the upgrade of 85 F-16 fighter jets this week.  In Washington, the admiral also met with his U.S. counterpart, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford, held meetings on Capitol Hill, and made a presentation at a roundtable discussion hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Admiral Apostolakis thanked AHI for the great work it does to promote Greece around the world. He also discussed the daily multi-faceted challenges that Greece faces in the Eastern Mediterranean including from its NATO ally, Turkey.

“Greece is an immensely valuable, proven, and reliable strategic ally for the projection of U.S. strategic interests in the region, and Greece is a frontline state in the fight against terrorism,” Larigakis said. “These messages are central to the policy agenda AHI promotes so strongly in Washington.”

AHI Board Members Athina Balta and Peter Bota, and AHI Legal Counsel and Board Treasurer Nick Karambelas, joined AHI President Larigakis at the meeting.