Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis urged Greek Americans eligible to vote in Greece to take part in the country’s next national election, telling a gathering of diaspora organizations in New York that Athens wants their voices heard and stronger ties with Greeks living abroad.
“We care about your views. We care about your opinion,” Mitsotakis told the gathering on Wednesday, making electoral participation one of the central themes of a broader message about the relationship between Greece and its diaspora.
The prime minister noted that the registration platform is already open and that reforms have made it easier for citizens living outside Greece to participate in elections.
For Mitsotakis, those changes represent part of a wider effort to build what he called “strong and resilient bridges” between Greece and the Greek-American community.
“When you live abroad and you look at Greece from a certain distance — geographical distance, not emotional distance, let me make that absolutely clear — you can also see things slightly more clearly,” he said.
Mitsotakis honors six members of the Greek-American community
The New York gathering brought together representatives of Greek-American organizations during Mitsotakis’ visit to the United States for the high-level week of the United Nations General Assembly.
A central part of the ceremony was the recognition of six prominent members of the Greek-American community for their contributions and achievements.
Those honored were Michael Amiridis, president of the University of South Carolina; Rep. Dina Titus of Nevada; John Koudounis, president and CEO of Calamos Investments; cardiologist Dr. George Dangas; Greek-American educator Athena Krommyda; and former US Ambassador Patrick Theros.
The honors reflected the range of fields in which members of the diaspora have made their mark in the United States, spanning higher education, public service, finance, medicine, education and diplomacy.
The event was organized jointly by 28 Greek-American organizations and has developed into an annual gathering of the organized diaspora during the Greek prime minister’s September visits to New York.
Mitsotakis said the purpose of bringing so many organizations together was also to recognize Greek Americans who have spent decades strengthening relations between Greece and the United States.
The prime minister described the gathering as an event that has become “sort of an institution” and thanked the community for its contribution to Greece and the bilateral relationship.
A message of participation rather than distance
The call for Greek Americans to participate in Greek elections was among the clearest messages directed specifically at the diaspora.
Mitsotakis told those with voting rights in Greece that they no longer necessarily have to travel back to the country to cast their ballots and urged them to use the available procedures for voting from abroad.
The appeal comes as Mitsotakis and his center-right New Democracy government look toward Greece’s next national election in 2027.
Speaking to the Greek-American audience, Mitsotakis acknowledged that his government is seeking another term, but presented that goal as a continuation of its reform program rather than an attempt to set a political record.
“This is not about breaking records. This is really about changing the country,” he said, adding that his government would have to work to persuade Greek voters that it deserves another mandate.
Mitsotakis also acknowledged the political challenge that comes with longevity in government, saying that “the longer you stay in power, the greater the perceived desire by some for some sort of change.”
He argued that Greece is substantially different from the country his government inherited in 2019, pointing to falling unemployment, job creation, economic growth and the country’s position in international financial markets.
Mitsotakis also told the audience that Greece’s transformation remains incomplete.
“The truth is that Greece today bears no comparison to what Greece was in 2019,” he said. “But it is also equally true that this job is still unfinished.”
Greek Americans and a changing Greece
Mitsotakis also connected the diaspora to Greece’s efforts to develop its technology sector and attract Greeks who built careers abroad.
He arrived in New York after two days in California, where he met major technology companies and members of the Greek and Greek-American community active in the sector.
The prime minister said that experience demonstrated how the relationship between Greece and its diaspora increasingly extends beyond traditional cultural and family ties into technology, investment and professional networks.
He thanked California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis for helping organize the California visit and pointed to Greece’s digital transformation and involvement in European artificial intelligence policy as examples of areas where the country is seeking a greater international role.
Mitsotakis’ message on Turkey
Mitsotakis also told Greek Americans that Greece had significantly strengthened its armed forces and would continue investing in its deterrent capabilities amid instability in the region.
On Turkey, he said Athens continues to seek peaceful and productive relations with its neighbor while drawing a firm line on threats against Greece.
“We are threatening no one, but we will also not accept to be threatened by anyone,” Mitsotakis said.
He also referred to the events at Greece’s land border with Turkey in 2020 and argued that Greece’s response contributed to a broader shift in European migration policy toward greater protection of the European Union’s external borders.
US-Greece ties expand
Mitsotakis presented the Greek-American community as an important part of the broader relationship between Athens and Washington, pointing to cooperation in technology, national security and energy.
He highlighted Greece’s growing role in transporting natural gas toward the Balkans and Eastern Europe and plans for offshore exploratory drilling involving ExxonMobil in 2027, Greece’s first such drilling in decades.
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