The World Council of Cretans (WCC) have elected their new board, and Nikos Kastrinakis is the newly elected president.
Kasrinakis will overtake from outgoing president Nikolaos Markogiannakis from Australia.
Held in the city of Rethymno in Crete on August 10, the elections saw the former president of the Cretans Association of New York ‘Omonoia’ elected alongside a new board of directors.
Serving alongside President Kastrinakis will be Vice President Fotis Fiotodimitrakis (USA), Secretary Maria Vamvakis (USA), Treasurer Bianca Pigounakis (USA), and members Nikos Markogiannakis, Manolis Mountakis, and Mary Ritsakis (Oceania), Vangelis Vourvahakis and George Olofson (Europe), and also Athena Kastrinaki and Theodoros Tsontos from Greece.
The general assembly began with comments from Markogiannakis after a traditional opening prayer.
Kostas Kallergis was also honoured for his contributions of more than 20 years to the council and received an honorary plaque from the outgoing president Markogiannakis.
Kastrinakis gave a speech after assuming his duties.
“Our vision and our compass is to translate the power of Cretans everywhere into useful work, beneficial work for our Crete, for our Federations, our Associations and our fellow citizens in Greece and abroad,” he said.
He noted that in order for this vision to bear fruit and become a reality, actions are needed, focused especially on three areas, the younger generation, culture, and cooperation.
He also thanked all those who have contributed to the existence of the WCC, starting with the outgoing president, all the previous presidents and all the previous administrations, the federations on the three continents: America, Oceania, and Europe, and the Cretan associations in Athens, Piraeus, Macedonia, and South Africa.
