Greece’s government has reiterated its stance on the humanitarian crisis gripping Afghanistan.
Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi says Greece does not want to become the entry point into the European Union (EU) for Afghans fleeing the crisis.
“We are clearly saying that we will not and cannot be the gateway of Europe for the refugees and migrants who could try to come to the European Union,” Mitarachi told state television ERT on Tuesday.
“We cannot have millions of people leaving Afghanistan and coming to the European Union … and certainly not through Greece.”
“The solution needs to be common, and it needs to be a European solution.”
Foreign Affairs Minister Nikos Dendias later told a crisis meeting of EU foreign ministers that the EU’s external borders must be protected and migrants must not be allowed to be used as a political tool by third countries.
Dendias warned that Greece would experience an influx in migration and called on the panel for agreement and collaboration to avert a migration crisis similar to 2015.
Dendias said the evacuation of all EU citizens from Afghanistan is an urgent priority and supported the EU countries currently planning to evacuate former Afghan interpreters, according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry.
Dendias suggested the need for a representative government in Afghanistan and called for the Taliban to respect fundamental rights and freedoms.
As a teenager in Syria, Ibrahim Al Hussein dreamt of becoming an Olympic swimmer before he lost a leg in the war. Now a refugee in Greece, he is set to participate in the Tokyo Paralympics in late August.
“I was a bit stressed a month ago but I am alright now. I’m ready to compete,” the Para swimmer, who competed in the Rio Paralympics in 2016 as part of the first ever Refugee Team told The Greek Herald in fluent Greek, from his home in Sepolia, Athens, where he lives.
Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images
From the Euphrates to Tokyo
The son of a swimming coach, Al Hussein, 33, began swimming aged five in the Euphrates River.
In 2012 as the war in Syria raged in and around his home city of Deir ez-Zor, Al Hussein was visited by a friend. When his friend left to go home, he was shot at and Al Hussein ran over to help only to find himself injured.
“I knew the risk that I might not be coming back home alive,” he said. “But I told myself, ‘I have to go, because if something happens to him and I have done nothing, I cannot live anyway with this thought in my mind’.”
"I would urge people everywhere to support the world’s most courageous sports team."
“I was about to carry my friend to a safe place or hospital. But unfortunately, as soon as I reached him, there was an explosion beside me,” he said.
“I lost my right leg, and I also needed metal plates in my left leg, my nose and my left eye socket.”
Al Hussein received emergency medical treatment at a makeshift clinic before being taken to Turkey. His right leg was amputated from the middle of the calf. A year later, in February 2014 he made the dangerous journey to Greece in a wheelchair.
Al Hussein: “I’m happy in Greece”
“It was very difficult in the beginning in Greece because I didn’t speak the language and I had nobody. For the first 18 days I was living in the streets as there were no camps back then but eventually, I found a doctor in Athens who helped me,” he said.
Dr Angelos Chronopoulos of the Rehabline company used his specialist skills in prosthetic orthotics to produce a new plastic right leg for Al-Hussein.
“The leg would normally cost 12,000 euros but he made it, did not charge me for it and any maintenance is free,” Al Hussein said.
Ibrahim al-Hussein, a 27 year old refugee from Syria, during a swimming training session in the former 2004 Olympic sport complex in Athens. ; Ibrahim al-Hussein carried the Olympic Flame in Athens as part of the torch relay for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. Photo: UNHCR
“After that I said this is the place where I would like to live. I’m happy in Greece. I even learned to speak Greek because I love the country and the people so much.
“I didn’t come to Greece for the papers or the money. We had money in Syria but we lost everything. I came to find a new homeland.”
Hussein says he has rejected offers to compete with Syria as well as Germany and the US.
A passion to help other refugee athletes
In 2016, Al Hussein was the flag bearer of the first Independent Paralympic Team at the Rio Olympics.
One year later, the swimmer made his World Championships debut in Mexico City followed by a second World Championships appearance in London in September 2019.
Now, his focus is on Japan and after the Games Al Hussein intends to re-channel his efforts into helping other refugee athletes onto the highest stage in sport – he currently supports a refugee wheelchair basketball team in Greece.
“I want to show other refugees that they can do what they set their minds to. No one should go through the hardships I went through the first two years.”
Al Hussein is, no stranger to helping others.
“Athletes or not this is what you need to remember: the strength comes from inside. From your mind and heart, not from the body. The body just helps,” he said.
The advice I’m giving my patients is that the time for waiting to decide on vaccination is over, a serious form of the Delta variant COVID-19 now spreading quickly throughout Australia. Most of our states are in prolonged lockdown, our lives are being severely disrupted.
We are now all at high risk of catching the virus, the only thing that will keep us safe (and help get out of endless lockdowns) is for us all to get vaccinated. The other concern is that our hospitals are already starting to feel the strain – and the ICU beds are filling up.* Soon the concern won’t just be the virus. You won’t find a hospital or an ICU bed or a ventilator if you need it.
We have already seen this overseas. And things will get much worse in Australia if we are all not vaccinated soon.
Τhere are around 2000 ICU beds around Australia but already 400 are full – even though the daily numbers are relatively low at around 300 to 400 cases per day.
Ιt’s not hard to imagine what will happen when these daily cases are in the thousands!
Τhere is no direct medical treatment for any virus, much less COVID-19 – as doctors we provide “supportive” management such as bedrest, stay warm, aspirin for fever and plenty of warm chicken soup with lemon – as the Greek doctors have always prescribed.
Τhis has always been the case with all virus infections. And Covid 19 is a virus – albeit much more serious and deadly.
The only “treatment” for viruses is PREVENTION. And that is vaccination. (or stay locked up in your house 24/7 without any visitor).
Τhe vaccine will help your body make antibodies that will reduce the severity of the viral illness, going to hospital, ICU, put on a ventilator or dying. And it will reduce likelihood, but not stop the risk of transmission of the virus.
Βeing immunised won’t mean you are immediately free to travel or do whatever you want. It will take 2 to 4 weeks after your second jab for full effect. And there will need to be 70% to 80% of people vaccinated for us to get out of lockdown and get back to normal life.
So, everyone has to do their part (given that there is probably 10% to 20% of antisocial people in society) we need almost everyone else to get vaccinated.
Until then, you need to keep wearing your mask and follow the rules of lockdown:
1. we must stay in our own home and only mix with people that live in our house
2. visiting relatives or friends is strictly prohibited – as it puts everyone at risk
3. only one person to go shopping -and need to register with the QR code at the shop, wear a mask, sanitise hands going in and coming out
4. one Carer to visit sick or elderly friend or relative – and always the same person. Take the same precautions.
5. exercise daily in the open air and only with people who live in your own house. Keep a distance from other people and if necessary, wear a mask. Exercise is good for your mental health as well.
6. if you have symptoms stay home. Ring your doctor or hospital for advice and immediately organise a COVID-19 test at a local testing facility. Do NOT go to your doctor or hospital unless you are very sick! And, even then, ring ahead. Do not put others at risk without warning.
Stay away from work and friends or shops if you have symptoms. The government will pay in most cases for you to stay home, for the Covid test and for your time to have the test, and to stay home and your Covid results.
Finally, we can all despair about the slow rate of the vaccination rollout and result of prolonged lockdowns -the lack of vaccines to date and the difficulty to access vaccines.
But now the vaccines are becoming much more easily available and community pop-up vaccine clinics -including by the Greek community – are making the vaccines, and choice of vaccine, much easier. Please get vaccinated with the vaccine of choice – or whatever is available there is no more time to lose, it may very well save your life. And one thing for sure, if we don’t get vaccinated, the epidemic will get a lot worse!
And please remember it’s not just the old or the weak or the sick that are at risk with the delta variant. Even young un-vaccinated people are now filling hospital beds in ICU – and even dying.
As I write this article, the majority of new cases in New South Wales are now in the 20-year-old age group! And all are un-vaccinated or not completely vaccinated.
We are now in the fight of our lives and a fight for our way of life. The Greeks have never run away from a fight.
Please get vaccinated.
Dr Costas Costa.
GP Sydney. OAM.
* ICU beds are a very limited commodity.
It takes years to replace a bed because of all the staff training required. Usually people stay in ICU bed for average 2 to 3 days but a COVID-19 patient averages five or six weeks in ICU bed. So once the beds fill up with Covid patients, it’s a long wait for the next patient to get a bed and seriously ill COVID-19 patients don’t have that amount of time to wait.
Those Sydneysiders who fit the criteria for an urgent appointment can book in at one of several priority locations via the NSW Government website.
A new generation of Melbourne young guns is shooting up Australia’s rich list, identifying a problem or niche market and then making millions creating innovative products.
Greek Australian, Jess Hatzis, and her business partner, Bree Johnson, are two of these young guns.
According to The Herald Sun, the university friends are part of a five person team which launched the coffee-based skincare brand, Frank Body, in 2013 with a combined savings pool of $5,000.
Chinese private equity firm, EverYi Capita, recently took a minority stake in the in-demand beauty business and it’s now valued at $100 million.
Jess Hatzis (right) and Bree Johnson from Frank Body. Picture: The Herald Sun.
Frank Body products are sold in 156 countries at retail majors such as Mecca in Australia, Ulta Beauty in the US, Sephora in Europe and Boots in the UK.
Ms Hatzis tells The Herald Sun the key to success for any entrepreneur is to get stuck into it.
“No one will do it for you,” she said. “If you really want this, be prepared to work harder than you ever have to make it a reality.”
Ms Hatzis lists opening Frank Body offices in New York and London as key business highlights.
“It was confirmation that the business really is going global and something we had been working towards since day dot,” she told The Herald Sun.
Jess Hatzis.
While sales have lifted during Covid as locked down customers focus on self care routines, Ms Hatzis said the pandemic had reinforced the need to not take anything for granted.
“Don’t get complacent,” she said.
“At the same time we need to be grateful for what we have. So many people lost their loved ones, savings and businesses through the pandemic and we were fortunate not to experience that.”
Ms Hatzis and Ms Johnson are no strangers to business having also founded the successful advertising agency Willow & Blake, known for its attention-catching communications for the like of Grill’d, Elle McPherson Body and Pana Chocolate.
Elli Sougioultzoglou-Seraidari, better known as Nelly’s, was a Greek female photographer whose pictures helped shaped the visual image of Greece in the Western mind.
Early Life:
Nelly’s was born in Aidini (now Aydın), near Smyrna (now İzmir), Asia Minor.
Elli Sougioultzoglou-Seraidari, better known as Nelly’s.
She went to study photography in Germany under Hugo Erfurth and Franz Fiedler in 1920-1921, before the 1922 expulsion of the ethnic Greeks of Asia Minor by the Turks following the Greco-Turkish war (1919–1922).
In 1924, after establishing herself in Athens and opening a photography studio in Ermou Street, she adopted a more Greek-centred and conservative approach to her work.
Photographic work:
Nelly’s became the first Greek “national” advertiser, especially after her appointment as official photographer of the newly established Greek Ministry of Tourism.
From 1927 until the outbreak of World War II, Nelly’s travelled throughout Greece, documenting the entire panorama of Greek life.
LEFT: Coppersmith. Piraeus, circa 1930 Nelly’s (ΦΑ_11_int5).
As a Diaspora Greek, Nelly’s view of Greece tended to be somewhat “idealised.” Her photographs appeared in official tourist publications that were circulated abroad, and contributed to creating the earliest visual symbols of Greece’s “philosophy regarding tourism.”
She systematically depicted the ancient monuments and archaeological sites of Greece. Her experiments with natural light and her photographs of ancient temples, demonstrating their interrelationship, are true masterpieces.
In 1936, she photographed the Berlin Olympic Games and later in 1939, she was commissioned to decorate the interior of the Greek pavilion at the New York’s World Fair. She remained in the US in self-imposed exile following the outbreak of World War II in 1939.
Harvest scene from Epirus. Epirus, circa 1930 Nelly’s (ΦΑ_11_N4817).
Death and Legacy:
Nelly’s travelled to Greece, for a very short time, in 1949 and finally returned on March 2, 1966. She lived, together with her husband Angelos Seraidaris, at Nea Smyrni, Attica, and gave up photography.
In 1985, Nelly’s donated her photo archives and cameras to the Benaki Museum in Athens, while in 1987 she was presented with an honourary diploma and medal by the Hellenic Centre of Photography and the government.
In 1993, she was awarded the Order of the Phoenix by the President of the Greek Republic. In 1996, the Athens Academy presented her with its Arts and Letters Award.
Nelly’s died on either August 8 or August 17 in Nea Smyrni, Athens in 1998. She left behind a huge portfolio of creative work.
An upcoming auction in Sydney of rare Greek coins and other medals and bank notes is a reminder of the value that might be locked up in the forgotten contents of a desk drawer, or that old money box or piggy bank.
According to auction organiser, Noble Numismatics, a Greece, Othon, five drachma of 1833 in uncirculated condition and one of the finest known is estimated to fetch bids of over $5,000.
A very large selection of Greek silver and bronze coinage (lots 4093 – 4388) dating from 359BC, is also estimated to fetch $3,000. These include: Carian Islands, Rhodes silver tetradrachm from mid-late 220s BC, and a Kingdom of Syria, Antiochos VI Dionysos silver tetradrachm of 143/2 BC.
A Greece, Othon, five drachma of 1833. Photo: Noble Numismatics.
Ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine gold coinage (lots 4695 – 4771) dating from 323BC is also on offer by Noble Numismatics and is apparently hot property. Those to be auctioned are:
Greek, Kingdom of Baktria, Diodotos II gold stater of 255-246BC (lot 4702; estimate $4,000).
Roman, Faustina Senior (wife of Antoninus Pius) gold aureus of 147AD (lot 4706; estimate $5,000), and
Byzantine, Justinian II gold solidus of 685-695AD (lot 4747; estimate $2,000).
Due to the pandemic lockdown restrictions, the auction will have online live bidding only from August 30 – September 2, 2021. Bidders will need to register prior to the auction.
A 62-year-old man of Greek background walked up to an acquaintance on a street in Sydney’s inner west and killed him by stabbing him multiple times in the torso, police have alleged.
According to The Australian, the alleged daylight attack in Marrickville prompted a major police operation that ended with the arrest of the Greek man in nearby Dulwich Hill on Friday afternoon.
Fatal turn of events:
Emergency services were told at midday on Friday that a man had been stabbed on Marrickville Rd.
Local police officers rushed to the scene and found a 55-year-old who had wounds to his upper body. The officers tried to revive him and were joined by paramedics, but the man’s life could not be saved.
The scene of the alleged daylight attack.
“He had a total of 25 minutes worth of resuscitation before we became aware that the patient would not survive his injuries,” Duty Operations Manager, Inspector Giles Buchanan, told 7 News.
Police began an intensive investigation which led them to a location on Denison Road in Dulwich Hill, where tactical operations officers and negotiators managed to arrest the alleged attacker.
The man was taken to hospital under police guard, where he was treated for injuries that were not sustained in either the alleged incident or during the arrest, police said.
The victim:
According to a GoFundMe launched by Sam Gravanis, the 55-year-old stabbing victim was a man named Sofoklis, who was battling cancer and has left behind an 8-year-old daughter and his elderly mother, Niki.
“This news has devastated his family,” the GoFundMe states.
There was a police operation in Dulwich Hill.
“We’ve set this gofundme to help raise funds to assist with Thea Niki and her 8-year-old granddaughter. These funds will go towards funeral expenses as well as ongoing support for the family. Thank you for any support you’re able to extend.”
Inner West Police Commander, Sam Crisafulli, told The Australian that the two men were known to each other but not related.
They were both known to police but had no links to organised or serious crime.
“The exact motive for this (alleged) murder is still under investigation. I don’t want to speculate why or what happened,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“It’s not what you would expect in the middle of a suburban area at all. And I suppose I just want to take this opportunity to reassure the community that it is safe in Marrickville.”
Greece has joined 65 other countries in asking that Afghans and international citizens who wish to depart, be allowed to do so.
State broadcaster ERT reported on Sunday that the Greek Foreign Ministry was seeking to secure the safe passage of two Afghan interpreters and their families. The translators had worked for a Greek unit.
“Afghans and international citizens who wish to depart must be allowed to do so; roads, airports and border crossing must remain open, and calm must be maintained,” the joint statement reads.
“The Afghan people deserve to live in safety, security and dignity. We in the international community stand ready to assist them.”
A man pulls a girl to get inside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan August 16, 2021. Photo: Reuters/Stringer.
Some of the other signatories on the statement are Australia, The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the US and UK, among many others.
This statement comes as the world watched on with dismay on Monday after two decades of a US-led Western campaign in Afghanistan collapsed within hours when the Taliban took control of the capital Kabul.
Chaos unfolded at Kabul international airport as thousands of Afghans tried to flee the country, with several people clinging to the outside of a US military plane as it took off and plunging to their deaths, officials said.
Britain and other European nations say they will not recognise any government formed by the Taliban and want the West to work together on a common stance.
Chaos at Kabul airport. Photo: AP News.
But UK and European leaders have so far not spoken forcefully on Afghanistan, and their hands are tied in many ways: They have little leverage over the Taliban and they are deeply reluctant to publicly criticise the withdrawal decision by the United States, their powerful NATO ally, or comment on their own role in the failed intervention.
NATO countries were left with little choice but to pull out the roughly 7,000 non-American forces in Afghanistan after US President Joe Biden announced in April that he was ending the US involvement in the war by September, 20 years after the September 11, 2001, attacks.
This morning, Biden defended his decision to withdraw troops, insisting it would be wrong to ask American troops to risk their lives for a cause that Afghan soldiers and political leaders were not willing to fight for.
“I stand squarely behind my decision,” Biden said at a press conference. “After 20 years, I’ve learned the hard way that there was never a good time withdraw US forces.”
Fanned by strong winds, two new big wildfires erupted on Monday in hard-hit Greece, triggering evacuation alerts for villages southeast and northwest of Athens — only days after blazes consumed large tracts of forest north of the Greek capital.
Greece has been roiled by hundreds of wildfires this month, on the heels of its most severe heat wave in decades, which left its forests tinder dry. Other Mediterranean countries — Turkey, Italy, Algeria and Spain among them — have suffered similar problems.
A wildfire burns next to a house in the village of Synterina, near Athens, on 16 August. Photo: Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP/Getty Images.
The worst of the two blazes that erupted on Monday was in the Vilia area northwest of the Greek capital, which triggered an evacuation alert for eight villages. Greece’s minister for public order, Michalis Chrysochoidis, said the flames were coursing through a densely forested area with scattered villages, none of which were in direct danger.
“We are trying to stop the fire from spreading” towards the nearby large village of Vilia, he said.
A volunteer operates during a wildfire in Siderina village about 55 kilometers (34 miles) south of Athens, Greece, Monday, Aug. 16, 2021. Photo: AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis.
That blaze was being fought by 240 firefighters — including 143 from Poland — supported by eight water-dropping planes and nine helicopters.
Another fire broke out earlier in the Keratea region southeast of Athens, burning shrubland and threatening a national park in the Sounion area. Three communities were ordered evacuated. Some residents desperately drenched their homes, while volunteers with hoses and branches helped fight the fires. More than 100 firefighters, eight water-dropping planes and 11 helicopters were striving to contain the blaze, which appeared to be on the wane by evening.
Volunteers try to extinguish a wildfire burning in the village of Markati, near Athens, on 16 August. Photo: Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters.
“Right now the situation there has improved, there are scattered active fires within the perimeter and efforts are continuing to contain them,” Chrysohoidis said.
Local mayor Dimitris Loukas told Greek television that authorities were investigating reports of arson. He said residents had seen someone in a car setting a dumpster on fire.
Maria Alexiadis keeps breaking glass ceilings after being named the first ever female President of Karate Victoria (KV), the peak representative body of Karate in Victoria.
Alexiadis will be taking over from outgoing President, John Frazzetto, after he withdrew his nomination from the organisation’s recent Annual General Meeting.
To mark this incredible achievement, The Greek Herald spoke to Alexiadis about her future plans for KV.
1. How does it feel to be named the first female President of KV?
It feels both good and bad. It is sad that it has taken so long for a female to become president and that this [gender] is even a thing in 2021. In fact, there are individuals out there that still don’t like it and don’t really believe I can do it but overall, it is a positive for an organisation like KV.
I know I will be scrutinised and will probably have to work twice as hard as a male counterpart to prove myself, but I’ve never shied away from pressure or hard work and criticism only makes me stronger. Overall, I’m really excited to be leading an organisation and sport I’m so passionate about and one where I have worked tirelessly to help improve and grow. I look forward to this challenge and making an even bigger impact on what I consider to be one of the best sports in the world!
Maria with outgoing KV President, John Frazzetto.
2. Tell us a little bit about the work of KV?
KV’s purpose is to provide a safe, inclusive and healthy sport that inspires and enables our members to achieve excellence in Karate and in life. We do this by offering athletes the chance to compete at state, national and international levels across tournaments that include the Senior World Championships, Cadet / Junior / U21 World Championships, Karate 1 Series A and Premier League events.
Karate Victoria’s involvement in these and many other tournaments is powered by our affiliation with organisations such as the Australian Karate Federation (AKF), the World Karate Federation (WKF) and the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC).
We want to diffuse true Karate to the community; to foster Karate on a national level and encourage community health and welfare by ensuring karate is accessible to all.
Karate Victoria stands by the principle that constant development and improvement of both body and mind distinguishes karate-do from other sports. It is through the reinforcement of karate-do’s traditional values – respect, honesty, loyalty, discipline, trust, perseverance, and courtesy – along with our provision of coaching accreditation courses, seminars and training clinics, that provides the environment necessary for individuals to succeed and excel.
Maria Alexiadis (right) has been involved with KV for over 30 years.
3. How long have you been involved with KV?
I’ve been involved with KV for over 30 years. I started out as an athlete on the state team and then made my first national team in 1999. In 2009, I, along with 2 other females, made history as the first female state coaches for KV.
From there, I helped develop female development days and coaching development days. I then got onto the KV Executive Committee as Secretary in 2015. Initially I had no idea what I was doing or what my role entailed, but I wanted to help improve our sport.
I faced many challenges in my sport as a female athlete and really didn’t want any other athlete going through what I went through. I felt accepting the position on the Executive Committee would be the best way to help make changes/improvements. It was a steep learning curve into the world of sport’s administration.
4. What are your future plans for KV?
My vision for Karate Victoria is for it to become a fulltime sporting organisation known for its integrity, inclusivity, professionalism and success. I personally would like to see our clubs, athletes, families and fans work together more effectively to promote and champion the benefits of our sport to the wider community and use that to enable more Victorians to take up our sport.
I would like to see our sport engage with and become more accessible to women and girls, those with disabilities, those from different cultures and the elderly. I would also like to see us develop world class programs from grassroots through to the pinnacle of elite international competition and provide more support for those achieving international sporting success that help us to engender national pride and inspiration.
Karate and all those individuals in our organisation have the power to improve the health and wellbeing of all Victorians, make communities stronger and drive positive change.
