Mitsotakis’ US visit in pictures
We revisit the main highlights of the prime minister’s official visit, crowned by a historic speech at the Congress
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis completed a landmark almost three-day visit to the United States on Tuesday which was crowned by a historic speech at the Congress following a meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House.
On Monday, Mitsotakis held an open discussion with Washington Post journalist David Ignatius at Georgetown University during which he warned against Turkish revisionism in Greece’s broader region – particularly amid growing jitters over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In the same vein, he expressed his disappointment in Ankara’s objections to Finland’s and Sweden’s applications for membership of NATO. While commending Europe’s mostly unified response to the war, the Greek premier nevertheless expressed his pessimism over the possibility of peace in Ukraine.
Biden then welcomed Mitsotakis to the White House and thanked Greece for showing “moral clarity” in the wake of the February 24 invasion as the country joined European sanctions against Russia, provided military assistance to Kyiv, and took in refugees displaced from the conflict. Also in focus was the prospect of Greece becoming an entry point into Europe for energy from Southwest Asia, the Middle East and Africa, as the continent seeks to cut Russian energy imports.
Biden thanked Greece for showing ‘moral clarity’ in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Later on Monday, the president and First Lady Jill Biden hosted Mitsotakis and his wife, Mareva Grabowski-Mitsotakis, at a White House reception to mark the bicentennial of the start of the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire, a commemoration postponed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
On Tuesday, US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi welcomed the Greek prime minister to the Capitol, where the two sides affirmed the two allies’ shared political values, rooted in Classical Greece. In a historic speech to a Joint Session of the US Congress, which was frequently interrupted by applause and standing ovations, the Greek leader emphasized Western commitment to democratic values in the face of Russia’s brutal incursion in Ukraine. “Our shared belief in freedom over tyranny, in democracy over authoritarianism, in the fundamental importance of respect for the rule of law over war and anarchy… are once again being tested,” Mitsotakis said. He also sent a clear message to Ankara to shed its revisionist ambitions and put an end to its illegal overflights in the Aegean.
Mitsotakis wrapped up his visit to the US attending a dinner with representatives of Greek-American advocacy organizations, during which he affirmed the efforts of his conservative administration to transform Greece into a thoroughly modern state. The dinner was attended by Pelosi, US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez, and Archbishop Elpidophoros of America. During the event, 12 prominent diaspora Greeks received awards for their contribution to Greece.
The recipients included businessmen and grand benefactors Angelo Tsakopoulos and George Behrakis, Executive Director of the Hellenic American Leadership Council Endy Zemenides, Father Alex Karloutsos, the recently retired vicar general of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (Michael Karloutsos received the award on his father’s behalf), Supreme President of the Order of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA) Jimmy Kokotas, and Marina Hatsopoulos, representing her family of entrepreneurs and philanthropists.
