NO. 89
WASHINGTON, DC — The American Hellenic Institute Foundation (AHIF) College Student Foreign Policy Trip to Greece and Cyprus completed its thirteenth year as nine students from across the United States participated in the 17-day program held June 22 to July 9, 2021. Following two days of briefings in Washington, DC, and a five-day visit to Cyprus, the student trip visited Athens, July 1 to 8, 2021.
“Greece is a dependable and vital United States ally and NATO partner as well as a frontline state against terrorism,” AHI President Nick Larigakis said. “Our itinerary in Greece aimed to educate the community’s next generation of leaders about the Greece’s geostrategic importance, which includes Souda Bay, and the security challenges it confronts.”
During their nine-day stay in Greece, the students met with several high-level government officials, including: Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou, U.S. Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt, Minister of Development and Investment Adonis Georgiadis, and Mayor of Athens Kostas Bakoyiannis. Mayor Bakoyiannis hosted a tour of city hall, as well as a dinner for the students.
A visit to Megaro Maximou, also known as the Maximos Mansion, the seat of the Prime Minister of Greece, highlighted the Athens leg. There, the students met with Prime Minister Mitsotakis, and his rescue dog, Peanut. The group also received a briefing by the senior advisor to the Prime Minister of Greece for E.U. and U.S. Affairs, Thanasis Bakolas.
When the group arrived in Athens July 1, Secretary General for Greeks Abroad and Public Diplomacy John Chrysoulakis hosted the students to a welcome dinner and tour of the Acropolis Museum. The students were also welcomed at the Hotel Grande Bretagne by a cocktail reception hosted by General Manager Hom Parviz.
The students gained further insight about Greece’s policy relating to diaspora Greeks with a briefing with Deputy Foreign Minister Konstantinos Vlasis. They also attended informative meetings that day with several directors at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including: Nafsika Vraila, A7 Directorate, North America; Ioannis Papameletiou, A2 Directorate, Cyprus; and Nikolaos Papageorgiou, A4 Directorate, Turkey.
Moreover, the students had a briefing by the diplomatic advisor to the Prime Minister Ambassador Eleni Sourani, in addition to meeting Evangelos Kalpadakis, Diplomatic Adviser to the leader of SYRIZA Alexis Tsipras. The students also met with the Parliament Committee of Diaspora Greeks, including its Chairman Savvas Anastasiadis (Nea Dimokratia) and 1st Vice-Chairman Andreas Michailidis (Syriza).
Furthermore, the students met with the Minister of Tourism, Haris Theoharis.
“The American Hellenic Institute Foundation Foreign Policy Trip has completely transformed the way that I view Greece and Cyprus as well as my role in the Greek-American community. The opportunity to learn from and speak to policymakers and experts in their respective fields made this trip a truly unique program,” Participant Sophia Kapogiannis said. “I was fortunate to share this experience with a group of students who feel the same connection and passion for their Greek heritage as I feel; our diverse academic backgrounds allowed us to have thought-provoking and insightful discussions and debates. I am grateful to the American Hellenic Institute Foundation for this generous experience and look forward to sharing the knowledge that I have gained with my fellow Greek Americans.”
Further, the students also enjoyed a tour of the famed Karaiskakis Stadium, home of Olympiacos F.C., July 6. Olympiacos Director of International Relations Kostas Vernikos sponsored the tour. Afterward, Director Vernikos and Chief Communications Officer of Capital Ship Management Corporation, Dr. Niki Kalogiratou, sponsored a sea-side dinner.
Students Learn about Greece’s Military, Defense Capabilities
Furthermore, the students had a meeting with and briefing by Greece’s top military official, General Konstantinos Floros, Chief of the Hellenic Defense General Staff, a highlight of the visit to the Ministry of Defense. In addition, Minister of Defense Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos generously spent a considerable amount of time to also provide a briefing to the students. Gen. Floros and Minister Panagiotopoulos then hosted the students for lunch at the Hellenic Navy Officers Club, located at the Defense Ministry.
In addition to a day trip to Souda Bay, Crete (see news release), the students visited Salamis for a visit to the Greek Naval Fleet Headquarters, which included multiple presentations and visits to a Greek naval frigate and submarine. They met with Fleet Commander Vice Admiral Panagiotis Lymberis, H.N., toured a submarine simulator and went inside one of the 11 submarines in Greece’s naval fleet. Vice Admiral Lymberis graciously hosted the students for lunch at his residence.
During his remarks (please click here for General Floros’ full remarks), General Floros not only discussed the importance of the U.S.-Greece relationship, but of the geo-strategic significance of the Eastern Mediterranean more broardly, stating “The East Mediterranean is a region of intense power play competition and probably one of the most sensitive and challenging areas of the globe.The threats and challenges emanating from the region are too many. Just to name a few, we are confronted with hybrid threats, acts of terrorism, violent extremism, energy insecurity, smuggling, climate change, economic crises, and trans-border organized criminal activities.”
“Participating in the foreign policy trip was an experience that was second to none, Participant Andreas Papoutsis said. “Aside from having the privilege to meet with high-level officials in the Greek and Cypriot governments, the trip was incredibly useful in demonstrating the importance of these relationships from an American perspective. The most impactful conclusion I derived from these meetings was that America’s free world leadership is a tool that needs to be utilized in the region.”
The program’s itinerary also provided the students with the opportunity to learn about the significance of Greece’s shipping industry during a meeting at the headquarters of Tsakos Shipping and Trading, S.A. There, they were briefed on Greek shipping.
In addition, Vice Admiral Stylianos Petrakis, Chief of the Hellenic Navy General Staff, hosted a tour and dinner for the students at the floating naval museum battleship “Georgios Averof.”
The trip concluded with a farewell dinner hosted by the American Hellenic Institute Foundation at the Hotel Grande Bretagne. Many of the officials with whom the students met, as well as AHI supporters, attended the dinner. Each student gave a brief speech reflecting on his or her experience. The students’ statements differed, but there was a common thread of gratitude toward all the AHI Foundation supporters. All students described their experiences on the foreign policy trip as immensely educational and as a life-changing one
“The American Hellenic Institute Foundation Foreign Policy trip was an extremely eye-opening experience for a young Greek American interested in politics and foreign policy,” Participant Nicholas Iliadis said. “The trip gave me the opportunity to meet amazing students, speak with influential leaders and military members and see both incredibly beautiful and heart-wrenching sights. This trip has completely shifted my point of interest in foreign policy and quite possibly given me a new goal for a career path.”
“We are extremely grateful to our sponsors for their generous hospitality and for helping to make the students’ trip a memorable one,” Larigakis said. “Their selfless contributions to this very important AHI Foundation program are invaluable.”
About Our Participants
Michael Arianas is a 3L at The George Washington University Law School, where he is concentrating in International Business Law.
Sophia Athan is a junior, National Merit Scholar, Benacquisto Scholar, and Dean’s List student at the University of Florida. She is majoring in Political Science and International Studies with a concentration in Greece and the European Union.
Sophia Axiotis is a first-generation and provost list student, a sophomore at Chapman University in Orange, California studying History and Philosophy with a minor in English.
Stratis Bohle is a sophomore and Dean’s List student at Virginia Tech, where he studies Political Science with a minor in History.
Xenia Evangeloulis is a junior George Washington University Presidential Academic Scholarship Recipient, a consecutive Dean’s List recipient, and Civic House Cohort Member where she studies Organizational Science and minors in both Psychology and Statistics.
Nicholas Dean Iliadis is a graduate of La Salle University where he majored in Political Science with experience in public policy and constituent relations. In the fall he will attend Widener Commonwealth School of Law.
Sophia Kapogiannis is a junior in the Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington University in Washington, DC. She is pursuing a BS degree in Public Health with minors in Nutrition and Sociocultural Anthropology.
Andreas Papoutsis is a senior at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he is majoring in Economics with a minor in Public Affairs.
Leonidas Tsirigotis is a junior pursuing a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Accounting at Loyola University of Maryland.