Foreign Affairs Chair Reiterates Support for Hellenic, Religious Freedom Issues

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Foreign Affairs Chair Reiterates Support for Hellenic, Religious Freedom Issues

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Demetra Atsaloglou
March 16, 2011—No. 16	(202) 785-8430

Ros-Lehtinen: “United States and Greece share a strong relationship"

WASHINGTON, DC — The American Hellenic Institute (AHI) welcomes House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen’s (R-FL) reiterated support for the reunification of Cyprus, the rights of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and Greece’s “good faith efforts” to resolve the name dispute with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) following a meeting she had with Chairman of the Hellenic Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense Konstantinos Vrettos on March 15, 2011.

Chairman Ros-Lehtinen stated she was pleased to meet with Chairman Vrettos and the two expressed a “shared hope” for a permanent and lasting solution to the Cyprus issue.

“I was very pleased to meet with Chairman Vrettos to discuss our shared hope for a permanent and lasting solution for peace and reunification in Cyprus,” she said.

Chairman Ros-Lehtinen also expressed “unwavering support” for the Ecumenical Patriarchate, “whose religious freedoms are being infringed upon by the restrictive policies of the Turkish government.”

On FYROM, she stated, “Greece has undertaken significant good faith efforts in an attempt to resolve the name dispute with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and it is my hope that a mutually-acceptable compromise will be reached soon.”

The congresswoman added she was pleased to see relations between Greece and Israel improve and that she looks forward to working with Greece’s leaders on issues of mutual importance.

“We applaud Chairman Ros-Lehtinen’s reaffirmed support of issues of concern to the Greek American community,” AHI President Nick Larigakis said. “Her statement demonstrates the importance she places on a strong U.S.-Greece relationship and she continues to articulate a candid and critical assessment of Turkish government policies toward the Ecumenical Patriarchate.”

To view Chairman Ros-Lehtinen’s full statement, please click here.

The American Hellenic Institute is a non-profit Greek American public policy center that works to strengthen relations between the United States and Greece and Cyprus, and within the Greek American community.

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For additional information, please contact Demetra Atsaloglou at (202) 785-8430 or at pr@ahiworld.org. For general information about the activities of AHI, please see our website at https://www.ahiworld.org.