Consular Corps Greece welcomes the New Year
The Consular Corps Greece hosted a New Year Pita cutting ceremony with an official dinner at the historic Athens Club on January 20th. Present were Ministers, officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassadors and other Members of the Diplomatic Corps, representatives from the Ministry of Citizen’s Protection and Police Force, of the Regional Authorities, leading entrepreneurs and Honorary Consuls from all over Greece.
Honouring the event was Minister of Health Adonis Georgiadis and the new Deputy Foreign Minister Tasos Chatzivasileiou.
The blessing and consecration were performed by Archimandrite Athinagoras as representative of His Beatitude, Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Hieronymos II.
The reception commenced with a welcoming speech and wishes to the distinguished guests by the President of the Consular Corps in Greece and Honorary Consul of the Commonwealth of Dominica Christos Vardikos. “This cherished Greek tradition of sharing the Vasilopita not only marks the beginning of a new year, but provides a wonderful opportunity for our entire Consular and Diplomatic community to come together,” Mr. Vardikos said.
In Greece, the cutting of the Vasilopita is more than a tradition – it is a symbol of hope, unity and blessings for the New Year. It reminds us of the importance of sharing, community and faith in a brighter future.
This select evening gathering held a special significance as it brought together the entire Consular Corps of both career and honorary consuls. This diverse representation enriches the diplomatic community to interact, share experiences, build stronger networks and strengthens international relations. For resident diplomatic missions, it provides the opportunity to expand diplomatic dialogue and cooperation with the broader Consular Corps, including those representing nations without resident embassies.
The CCG President also noted that this occasion recognises the valuable contributions of every Member of the Consular Corps to international diplomacy in Greece and notified that the Members could look forward to an exciting and divergent calendar of events throughout 2025.
Pictured above: Consular Corps of Greece Board of Directors and Archimandrite Athinagoras cut the annual Vasilopita – the Hnry Consuls of Namibia Alexandros Iliadis (A Vice President), of Uruguay Christos Kazantzis (B Vice President), of Dominica Christos Vardikos (President) and of Kenya Vicky Pantazopoulou (Treasurer). Addressing the guests – Minister of Health Adonis Georgiadis; and CCG President, Christos Vardikos. Mr. Vardikos with Minister Georgiadis; and with Deputy Foreign Minister Tasos Chatzivasileiou.
First row: CCG President and Hnry Consul of Dominica Christos Vardikos with Hnry Consul of Monaco and Athens Medical Group CEO Dr. Vasilis Apostolopoulos and Minister of Health Adonis Georgiadis; with MoFA B Director General Ambassador and Mrs. Constantinos Piperigos; with MoFA A8 Director Ambassador Argyro Papoulia; with MoFA A7 Director Ambassador and Mrs. Loucas Karatsolis. Second row: with MoFA Deputy Chief of Protocol Nikos Fouyas; with Marina Hourmouzi (MoFA); the Ambassadors of Cuba Aramis Hernandez, Palestine Yussef Dorkhom, the Philippines Giovanni Palec and Hnry Consul of Papua New Guinea Nick Roniotis; with the Ambassador of Georgia Levan Beridze. Third row: with Andreas Kakkos (Hellenic Police), Hnry Consul of Moldova Georges Palazis, Moldovan Ambassador Andei Popov and George Triantafyllou (Star Automotive Hellas); with Hnry Consul of the Seychelles Loucas Ellinas, Ambassador of Pakistan Muhammad Qureshi and Hnry Consul of Malaysia Savvas Tzanis; with Charge d’Affaires of Lebanon Francis Marwan. Fourth row: with the Deputy Head of Mission of Kuwait Abdullah Alothinah; with EENE Director General Pavlos Efthyimou and Deputy Minister Chatzivasileiou; with the Hnry Consuls of Botswana Nectarios Polychroniou, of Uruguay, of Namibia, of Romania Konstantinos Kourkounakis and of Hungary Periandros Epitropakis. Fifth row: with the Hnry Consuls of Moldova, Kenya and of Brazil Dr. Ioannis Lyras; of Oman Georgios Moundreas; of El Salvador Dr. Panagiotis Koutsikos and of Luxembourg Artemis Papatheodorou; of South Africa and Mrs. Vassilios Takas.
Sixth row: Hnry Consul of the Philippines Anastasia Manolopoulou; Danish Ambassador Per Andersen with the Hnry Consuls of Sweden, CCG Secretary General Constantinos Christopoulos, FICAC President Nikos Margaropoulos, of Italy Mauro Renaldi and of Armenia, CCG Member, Akis Dagazian; of Equador Susana Vasquez-Alvear, Consul General of the Dominican Republic Romulo Marmolejo and of Nicaragua Miguel Capuano.
