Greece’s newly appointed Deputy Foreign Minister for Expatriate Greeks, Antonis Diamataris met with the President of the Hellenic Republic Prokopios Pavlopoulos on Monday at the Presidential Mansion.
The President noted the importance of the Minister’s portfolio as it dealt with Greece’s greatest asset – its diaspora.
"Greeks abroad are a form of national capital. To handle the fate of expatriate Greeks is a national mission," said the President, noting that the diaspora has always but especially in recent years helped Greece "greatly exceed its borders" so that Greece was now "everywhere".
While Greeks abroad had supported Greece at crucial moments, the Greek State had not done as much for them, Pavlopoulos added, and he stressed the need to bring young expatriate Greeks "closer to Greece, its history and language".
Diamataris, himself a Greek-American, noted that he had served the Greek community in the United States for decades and had chosen to have his meeting with Pavlopoulos because "I am aware of your love and sensitivity to those of us of the diaspora and know that we will deepen and reinforce the relations of the mother country with overseas Greeks."