---

PRIME SITES



THE CENTER FOR BYZANTINE AND MODERN GREEK STUDIES,
QUEENS COLLEGE

---

---

REBUILD ST. NICHOLAS!

---

HELLENIC AMERICAN BANKERS

---

---

WASHINGTON, DC—On April 4, 2008 AHI Executive Director, Nick Larigakis sent a letter to the Editor of The New York Times, in response to an on-line editorial titled, “Shame On Greece: Messing With Macedonia”(April 3, 3008) and urged The New York Times to support the U.S.’s long-time and loyal ally, Greece. The text of the letter can be found below.

April 4, 2008
Letter to the Editor New York Times.com

Dear Editor:

On behalf of the nationwide membership of the American Hellenic Institute (AHI) I write to strongly protest your editorial “Shame On Greece: Messing With Macedonia.”

Who’s messing with whom?

• In declaring its independence in (1992), didn’t FYROM choose to name itself in the most provocative way possible?
• Is it proper for a country which is part of a region to define itself in an official manner as representing the whole region?
• Didn’t communist dictator Tito change this region from Vardar Banovina to “Macedonia” in December 1944 to create a false Macedonian ethnic consciousness for a number of reasons, including his campaign against Greece to get control of Thessaloniki? And didn’t Secretary Stettinius denounce Tito’s actions as aimed at Greece?
• Doesn’t FYROM continue to provoke Greece by actions such as distortion of geographic maps, naming its airport “Alexander the Great,” revisionist textbooks in schools, and inflammatory comments by top government officials, which encourage new generations in FYROM to cultivate hostile sentiments against Greece?

On February 6, 2008, I attended at a roundtable discussion, hosted by the German Marshall Fund in Washington, DC. The featured speaker was FYROM’s Foreign Minister, Antonio Milososki. I asked him to explain how his government reconciles these provocative actions. He declined to offer any defense to my assertions.

Leading up to the NATO Summit, Greece, in a serious shift in policy accepted a number of proposals from UN mediator Nimetz, as a basis for discussion. Unfortunately, the editorial failed to state that this gesture was not reciprocated from FYROM.

Clearly, the U.S. has important interests in Southeast Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean. The projection of U.S. interests in the region depends heavily on the stability of the region. Therefore, the U.S. has an important stake in fostering good relations among neighboring countries in the region.

Greece is of vital importance and the key country for the projection of U.S. strategic interests in the region by virtue of among other factors, its geographic location and its very important naval and air bases in Crete. This sentiment has been expressed several times by our government in the past few years, by President Bush and Secretary Rice.

Stability in the Balkans is not only critical for overall U.S. interests, but also because it serves the interests of every country in the Balkans. Greece is by far the most economic and politically stable country in the Balkans. It is also the largest investor in the Balkans and in FYROM.

However, the continuing intransigent and provocative actions by the government of the FYROM against its neighbor, Greece, poses a potential threat to stability in the Balkans, to the detriment of U.S. interests.

It is significant that Greece was supported in Bucharest by leading European countries, France, Italy, and Spain and that Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium, viewed with understanding Greece’s arguments.

On this issue the NYT should support our long-time and loyal ally, Greece, who is our most important strategic partner in the region and the key country for stability in the region.

The editorial board should be advocating for the U.S to use its influence to bring the proper pressure to bear on FYROM to negotiate in good faith the name issue that satisfies both countries and to cease its provocative actions against Greece. Only in this way will the interests of all parties be satisfied.

Respectfully yours,

/S/

Nick Larigakis
Executive Director

New York Times Editorial
The Republic Formerly Known As ...

Published: March 30, 2008

Bringing three Balkan states into NATO is too important a project for Greece to block just because it disapproves of Macedonia’s name.

CLICK TO CONTINUE.

A big-buck Democratic house divided

While Sacramento Valley developer Angelo Tsakopoulos and daughter Eleni ara backing Clinton, son Kyriakos will support Obama.

By Dan Morain, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

February 19, 2008 SACRAMENTO -- For the better part of two decades, Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton have counted on the support and money of the Tsakopoulos clan of the Sacramento Valley.

Eleni Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis is one of Sen. Clinton's most active fundraisers, having hosted numerous Northern California galas for her Democratic presidential campaign. Patriarch Angelo Tsakopoulos, a major Sacramento developer and one of the former president's early California backers, supports the New York senator as well.

But on Monday, Kyriakos Tsakopoulos, Angelo's son and Eleni's brother, said he was backing Democrat Barack Obama. The lawyer and developer said he would fly to Chicago today to confer with Obama's campaign about how he could best help. He is offering to raise money for the Illinois senator.