Sections of the Greek community have expressed their disappointment recently at what they perceive to be visiting Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Kostas Tsiaras’ failure to engage with prominent Greek Australian organisations.
According to several sources, the Pan-Macedonian Federation and the Australian Hellenic Council had requested an audience with the Deputy Foreign Minister which was denied. Subsequently, members of the above-named organisations were contacted by the Greek Consulate in Melbourne and two back-to-back meetings were scheduled at the luxury hotel at which the Deputy Foreign Minister is staying for the duration of his visit to Melbourne.
It is alleged that when delegates from the two organisations arrived at the hotel, they were met by Mr Tsiaras and Consul-General of Greece in Melbourne Eleni Lianidou in the foyer.
“Mr Tsiaras and Ms Lianidou were surprisingly brusque with us,” one of the attendees, who did not wish to be named, stated. “We were told that the Deputy Foreign Minister would not hold a meeting for each organisation as was previously arranged but would combine them into one.”
Members of the two organisations had booked a meeting room at the hotel in anticipation of their consultation with Mr Tsiaras. “Mr Tsiaras refused to go into the room,” another attendee stated. “He said that going into the room, which was in the hotel itself, would take up too much of his time and insisted that the meeting be held with all of us standing around the hotel lobby.”
“We tried to explain to Mr Tsiaras that hanging around the foyer was not appropriate for the matters we needed to discuss as they were of a serious and important nature,” another attendee stated. “When we pointed this out, he accused us of being aggressive and refused to give us a hearing. We had no alternative but to leave.”
It has been rumoured for some time that the relationship between the Consul-General of Greece, Ms Lianidou, and the aforementioned community organisations that lobby State and Federal Governments on issues pertaining to Greek-Australians and Greek foreign policy, has been far from harmonious.
“All we wanted to do is seek clarification about a function Mr Tsiaras attended in Perth, at which FYROM’s honorary consul to Australia, Zoran Kjoseski, was purportedly present. Further, there were certain pertinent issues upon which we wished to seek his advice. Quite frankly, Mr Tsiaras’ attitude is mystifying. On the one hand he talks about openness, accountability and inclusiveness and on the other hand he appears to summarily dismiss important Greek-Australian organisations who have taken upon themselves the burden of furthering Greece’s interests. This is not the type of behaviour one would expect from a member of parliament who is supposedly visiting us in order to bring about cohesion and resolve key issues,” a prominent member of the Greek community who attended commented. “It certainly sends the wrong message to our community and has a detrimental effect on those members of the younger generations who want to get involved.”
The timing of Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Tsiaras visit to Australia in view of the Greek financial crisis, along with his controversial promotion of the defunct Council of Greeks Abroad, has already been met with scepticism within the Greek-Australian community. “The political culture of Australia is much more subtle and critical than perhaps what we were used to in our homeland,” one source commented. “Populism and grand-standing are not given much credence here. Greek politicians need to understand that unless their approach to Greek-Australian institutions is a respectful and nuanced one, their credibility will suffer.”