Consulates may be forced to shut the door

Greek Consulates around the world are in dire straights and in some cases consular staff have not been paid for over two months. Even worse, many of the consulates may end up on the street as the Greek government has not paid rent, or utility bills for months.

The Greek Ministry for Foreign Affairs though had assured the consulates that the "issues will be resolved soon", but many of the Ambassadors and other consular staff have had to rely on the goodwill and assistance of friends. Neos Kosmos has found out that in Australia the doors to the Greek Embassy and its consulates have not been locked, but that there are deep and severe cuts being made in all areas of consular expenditure. Neos Kosmos has heard that the situation in Australia for Greek consular offices has been described as "dramatic". Things are far worse for Greek consulates in Nairobi, Kenya and in Los Angeles in the USA where they have been threatened with eviction.

The staff of the Greek Embassy in Washington DC, had not been paid since November nor had any of the electricity and water bills been paid. The Greek diplomatic services in Vienna, Austria, and Oslo, Norway, can hardly cover the cost of heating and electricity and have had to periodically shut down heating. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Greece was forced to send out a circular asking all heads of diplomatic offices around the world to cut running costs by a whopping 25 per cent.

This has meant cuts in heating and electricity, use of cars, postage, and general service delivery. In some case, Neos Kosmos has heard that some of the costs of running core services and meeting utility bills and rent have been met by the staff themselves. According to sources a consular members of the Tokyo Embassy had to pay out of their own pockets for office chairs and cleaning services.

The Greek Ambassador in Nairobi Dimitrios Loundros has sent five letters to the to the Greek Foreign Affairs Minister Dimitri Droutsas expressing the sense of "frustration and helplessness" from his Greek and local staff. "I feel it is unacceptable to force such dramatic cuts on local Kenyan staff who will literally have to starve if their meagre salaries are cut so dramatically" the Ambassador wrote. He added; "Our personal responsibilities especially to our children remain unmet." The Ambassador points out a litany of concerns not least the fact that Embassy cars can not be used due to an "inability to pay for petrol and services" while the expressing his "deepest concern that they may be evicted from the premises."

Ambassador Loundros emphasises in one of his letters to the Minister for Foreign Affairs that if the minister has decided to close the embassy that all "outstanding financial commitments should be met" and that the "closure of the embassy should be done with a level of self-respect."