Archbishop Elpidophoros to request Washington's support for key Greek issues

The Archbishop will represent the Greek-American community at the official reception organised by the White House to celebrate the anniversary of Greek independence. Shortly before the joint statements, Elpidophoros will, as usual, have a one-on-one meeting with Joe Biden, where he will ask for support on a number of issues, which will cover the Aegean, Cyprus, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

Asked by the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA) about the message he will send to President Biden, the Archbishop of America replied: "I will firstly thank him for the honour the American government is once again doing [to Greece], honouring the Greek Revolution and the Greek nation and our culture, but also our church, the Holy Archdiocese of America. And I will ask him to continue the US policy of always being on the side of not only the Greek issues in Greece, the Aegean, Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean, but also to support our Ecumenical Patriarchate".

As part of the celebration of the Greek Revolution, the State Department's chief of protocol hosted a dinner Tuesday night in honour of America's Archbishop at the White House presidential guest house (Blair House).

US Ambassador to Greece George Tsounis said:

It is an honour to be here at the presidential guest house of the White House (Blair House) for a dinner in honour of the 202nd anniversary of Greek Independence. As we know, the government of the United States was founded on the principles and ideals established in Greece, democracy being the most important of them. Our two countries share a sacred responsibility to protect democracy. The relationship between the US and Greece has never been better and contributes to peace and stability in the region. Greece is clearly an indispensable ally of the United States and (the two countries) always act with principle and are always on the right side of history.