When a Ryanair Holdings Plc jet was forced to land in Minsk, 26-year-old Raman Pratasevich, who was arrested by Belarusian authorities, wasn’t the only one who didn’t resume the flight from Athens to Vilnius.
Aside from Pratasevich and his girlfriend, three more passengers stayed in Minsk, two Belarusians and one Greek national, according to a Greek government official with knowledge of the ongoing investigation.
The Greek national, Iason Zisis, spoke to Bloomberg, confirming he was on the flight and said the diversion proved to be handy for him.
Iason Zisis.
“I was flying to Minsk anyway, with an evening connection in Vilnius,” Zisis said on LinkedIn. After the interruption, as passengers lined up to return to the aircraft, “I stood at the back of the queue and I asked to stay, and they allowed me.”
With a PhD in scientific computing from Eindhoven University of Technology, Zisis said he lives in Patras, Southern Greece. He said that he was heading to Minsk to visit his wife, who lives there.
A Greek government official, who asked not to be named, said that the investigation so far hasn’t indicated Zisis’s involvement in the incident. Some of the passengers on board have said they had not realised the forced landing took place to snatch a dissident off the flight until they reached Vilnius.
Zisis says that he finds it inexcusable that journalists were the first to track him and reach him, and not the Greek government. He said that no one had called to confirm his whereabouts and whether he’s okay when he was missing from the list of passengers who landed in Vilnius after the diversion.
The European Union agreed Monday to impose sanctions on Belarus, including banning its airlines from using the airspace and airports of the 27-nation bloc, amid fury over the forced diversion of the passenger jet.
“We won’t tolerate that one can try to play Russian roulette with the lives of innocent civilians,” said EU Council chief Charles Michel, who presided over the EU meeting.
The families of restaurateurs Jim Kospetas (The Civic, 1821) and Steve Anastasiou (China Doll, China Lane) have combined forces to bring a new, trendy Greek restaurant to Pitt Street, the former location of Jamie’s Italian restaurant.
Announced by goodfood.com.au, the “young blood” of the next generation will drive the restaurant, named M.I.M as an acronym for ‘Made in Mykonos’. M.I.M by 1821 will open on July 1.
The site enjoyed long-term success from the Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group (Australia) Pty Ltd, until it collapsed in 2018. Brisbane-based Hallmark Group eventually took over, yet the COVID-19 pandemic proved to be the final straw as the troubled restaurant went into liquidation again.
Harris Kospetas in front of The Mill. Photo: Supplied
“We think it’s a great spot, and while they are looking at redeveloping the building we have at least 12 months [on the lease] guaranteed. But it could be years,” says Kospetas.
“We want to bring the life, the energy, the food of Mykonos.”
The Kospetas family opened ‘The Mill’ in the Eastern Suburbs late 2020, providing a more premium option for the area, while still maintaining a relaxed social setting.
In-form Glory forward Chris Ikonomidis has been named in the Socceroos squad which will continue its quest for a place at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 by playing four qualifiers in Kuwait throughout June.
The 26-year-old, who currently has 12 Socceroos caps to his name, has scored four times in nine appearances for Glory since returning to A-League action in mid-April.
He will be looking to re-establish himself in green and gold as Graham Arnold’s side complete their final four Round 2 Group B Asian qualifying fixtures against Kuwait, Chinese Taipei, Nepal and Jordan, with all four games set to take place in Kuwait City.
“It’s always an honour to be included in a national squad,” he said, “and I’m really looking forward to joining up with the group in Kuwait and playing my part in helping us take another big step towards qualifying for Qatar 2022.
“I’m thoroughly enjoying my football and would like to thank Richard Garcia and in particular the medical staff here at Glory for all their help in recent months.
Photo: AAP
“They have been fantastic with me and I really appreciate everything they’ve done.
“In terms of the Socceroos, winning those first four qualifiers back in 2019 has given us a great platform to build from and I’m confident that we can do exactly that in these next four games.”
Glory Head Coach and former Socceroo Richard Garcia, meanwhile, is delighted that Ikonomidis will again have the opportunity to shine on the international stage.
“Everyone at the club is extremely proud to see Chris named in the squad,” he said.
“His selection is a deserved reward for all the hard work that he has put in behind the scenes as well as the fine form that he has shown on the field.
“Chris is a great professional as well as a great player and we look forward to seeing him continue his international career and help drive the Socceroos on to Qatar 2022.”
11 of the 31 players selected have already arrived in the Middle East ahead of the first game which is against Kuwait on Thursday 3 June, with the remainder set to arrive at varying times according to their respective club commitments.
Following the clash with Kuwait, the Socceroos will face Chinese Taipei on Monday 7 June, Nepal on Friday 11 June and Jordan on Tuesday 15 June.
The residents of Chania have the opportunity these days to take a walk down memory lane of the heroic moments of resistance against the Nazis at the Sampionara gate in the old town, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Crete.
Unique evidence, collectible material, shocking testimonies and much more, compose the exhibition “Battle of Crete, 80 years later,” which offers, at the same time, the socio-political extensions of the historical event in time.
The curator of the exhibition, Lefteris Lambrakis, just a few hours after its opening last Saturday, spoke to The Greek Herald about the exhibition which showcases one of the greatest moments of resistance of the Cretan people against fascism.
Photos supplied.
“With emotion and awe we stand across the history which we Cretans are taught from our childhood years, from our grandparents and parents, from our relatives and teachers. We learn about the unparalleled heroism of our ancestors against the expansionist rage and atrocities of Nazi Germany,” Mr Lambrakis says, as he gives several photos of the exhibition to The Greek Herald in order for our readers to make an imaginary journey through time.
We learn about the important role that this heroism played in the course of World War II. We learn about their sufferings for this heroism, the burned villages, the hundreds of riflemen, the black handkerchiefs that covered the heads of women for years after, until the end of their lives.”
Photos supplied.
The exhibition opened its doors on Saturday, May 15 and its curtain will fall on the last Sunday of this month.
As Mr Lambrakis tells us, visitors of the exhibition can see: “the photos, the announcements, the newspaper pages, the announcements that the Germans posted on the walls threatening the people of Crete for any reactions and resistance. This is the content of this exhibition. At the same time, two short 16 mm films from the Battle of Crete are shown, as well as testimonies of people who lived through history.”
Photos supplied.
Due to his artistic nature – he is an actor – Lefteris Lambrakis did an impressive job in the collection of historical evidence, as shown in the photos, published in The Greek Herald.
“Bending diligently over the sources and reverently gathering all those elements that would unravel the tangle of the Cretan Epic, respecting the documents and evidence, attempting a different approach, a tribute to the Memory of our ancestors. Tribute to the Memory of all those who “knew how to write History”,” Mr Lambrakis says.
The Cretan Federation of Australia and New Zealand celebrated their 40th anniversary, as well as the 20th anniversary of the Youth Federation, with a successful book launch on Monday night.
Held at the Hermes Lounge in Kogarah, the launch was attended by about 60 people who were all excited to get their hands on a copy of the special book publication, which features the history and achievements of the Cretan Federation over the last 40 years.
Official proceedings on the night began with Master of Ceremonies, Hara Lavdioti, introducing a number of speakers to the stage.
Photos: Cretan Association of Sydney & NSW Facebook.
First up was the President of the Hellenic Lyceum of Sydney, Liana Vertzayias, who described the Lyceum’s costume exhibition which is currently on display at the Lounge for a limited time.
From there, the President of the Cretan Association of Sydney & NSW, Terry Saviolakis, as well as past President of the Cretan Federation, Peter Sarikakis, gave small speeches. They both praised the work of the current committee in organising successful community events and keeping the Cretan culture and heritage alive in Australia.
Photos: Cretan Association of Sydney & NSW Facebook.
Current President of the Cretan Federation, Tony Tsourdalakis, then took to the stage to speak about the history of the organisation, as well as the book itself.
Later, Mr Tsourdalakis presented Mr Sarikakis with a copy of the anniversary book as a special thank you, and Mr Saviolakis received a commemorative plate from the Eleftherios Venizelos National Institute in Chania.
“I would like to congratulate the Cretan Federation on 40 years of hard work and achievements and I hope the next generation will continue this work for years to come,” Mr Saviolakis tells The Greek Herald.
If you are in Sydney and would like to purchase a copy of the book, please contact Mr Saviolakis on president@cretannsw.com.au.
Inner West Council Mayor, Darcy Byrne, has confirmed that Enmore Road, including the renowned Greek-owned Enmore Theatre, will become the first ‘Special Entertainment Precinct’ in NSW.
This news comes after members of the Inner West Council unanimously passed a motion last night, calling for the popular inner west theatre to be granted so-called ‘special entertainment precinct’ privileges under the Liquor Amendment (Night-time Economy) Act 2020.
The unanimous vote will see the venue become the first in Sydney to be further protected from noise complaints, as they will now be dealt with by the Inner West Council themselves.
The theatre will also be allowed to extend trading hours on live music and performance nights.
“This groundbreaking change will give real incentives for venues to host live music instead of pokies, through late trading allowances and reduced avenues for noise complaints against music venues,” Mayor Byrne said in a Facebook post.
Century Venues, the owners of Enmore Theatre, welcomed the news with open arms.
“The designation of the Enmore Theatre as an entertainment precinct under the new legislation is a great step forward not just for us at Century Venues but the entire live performance sector,” Century Venues Executive Director, Greg Khoury, said.
“No other night time business generates greater economic flow-on effects to communities than live performance spaces.”
AHEPA Chapter Artemis No 5 Inc. is holding a lecture on Sunday, May 30 at 3pm at the Ashbury Panarcadian Federation Club to discuss the prevalence of domestic violence in Australia, including multicultural communities.
Titled ‘Domestic Violence Affects Us All,’ the lecture will be given by keynote speaker and solicitor, Mary Nagle, who will discuss the early signs that foretell the likely onset of violence in the home, in a relationship, at work or any other situation where there is ongoing interaction among people.
Ms Nagle will also explain the different aspects of family or relationship violence, the implications and the law and options available to those who need to escape from relationship violence.
According to data provided by NSW Police, domestic violence claims one life every 15 days. In just one decade, from October 2008 through to September 2018, the number of victims of domestic violence climbed up to 285. The tragic reality of this number is that some of the victims were children.
“It is topical at the moment to talk about relationship violence. There is so much of it in the news, but so much more of it in people’s lives especially from the ethnic communities which we do not usually hear about,” Ms Nagle says.
“The talk isn’t just for women but it’s for anyone who is, was, or likely to be in a relationship or knows someone in a relationship, whether this is a parent-child relationship, a husband-wife i.e. spousal relationship, a close friendship or partnership. In short it’s for everyone.
“AHEPA Australia, led by the President, Committee and members of Artemis 5 is dedicated to raising awareness and addressing issues affecting those men, women, children and their families who suffer in silence. Artemis 5 will continue to raise funds for causes that concern them…”
Three days after the “Greek Fest Food at the Hunter” event and the disappointment felt by a large number of attendees due to the long food queues and the concerns raised about hygiene and accessibility issues, the community still wonders who is responsible for the situation that sparked widespread outrage on social media.
With a Facebook post, the Greek Festival of Sydney thanked the attendees and apologised to those who “left disappointed,” blaming the lack of food to the main food vendor who “withdrew a week before the event.”
On Tuesday morning, Peter Sinadinos, the owner of Big Fat Greek who was meant to be the festival’s major food sponsor, issued a statement explaining the reasons for withdrawing from the event.
With all the recent misinformation on social media platforms and other media regarding my withdrawal from the Greek Festival of Sydney’s “Greek Fest on the Hunter”, I wish to clarify the series of unfortunate events that ultimately lead to that difficult decision, as I’m sure it was also difficult for the sponsors before me who withdrew.
From the offset, I was approached by the organisers of Greek Festival of Sydney to provide DEFI II’s band and singers as a support act for Dimitrios Basis at the “Greek Fest at the Hunter”, which I offered free of charge as a donation to the Greek Orthodox Community of NSW. Additionally, our conversation raised the prospects of a fundraising ticket-event for the Greek Orthodox Community of NSW’s Aged Care Facility at Earlwood, towards the purchase a bus, and we subsequently offered DEFI II’s venue, band, singers, security staff, light and sound engineers, chefs and kitchen-hands, as well as food as our donation to this wonderful cause. Incidentally, the fundraiser, on Sunday May 16th, was a great success and sell out raising tens of thousands of dollars and all patrons enjoyed this memorable event.
With my relationship with the Greek Festival of Sydney strengthening and growing, I was then offered four stalls at the “Greek Fest at the Hunter” on the Hope Estate, to which I was honoured to be part of this event. At this point, the crowd projection was anticipated to be approximately 2,000 people.
Over many weeks, my team sent many emails to the Greek Festival of Sydney to provide me with important information and infrastructure about how this operation was to be set up as there were many rules and regulations- from councils to health and food regulators- that we had to comply with. Furthermore, there were also Hope Estate’s strict guidelines- with regards to access and set up times to consider with such a major logistical operation, on a site that was two-and-a-half hours from Sydney.
As our business, Big Fat Greek, is not simply a food truck and we promote our business model based on high-quality and fresh products prepared and served efficiently and promptly, our organisation and preparation leading up to the event was continually hampered by several changes- such as power supply, gas supply, projected attendance numbers, number of stalls we needed to operate and access times to set up and test all the equipment (only on Friday, May 21st from 12- 5pm).
When I raised concerns about the uncertainty and confusion surrounding our preparations, I was told words to the effect of, “You stand to make $100,000 in six hours, what is your problem? And if you don’t like it, don’t do it,” to which I replied, “My brand and I are not for sale.”
Power supply for all our equipment included: ten gyros rotisseries, ten hot and cold food displays, eight fryers, food-grade floors, and fridges and freezers, chargrilled machines, and was finally confirmed in conversation to include power. Eight days before the event, I was sent another email, informing me I would need to supply my own generators for power supply, and it should be emphasised the massive size of the generators that would be needed to supply our stalls ran on diesel which was not permitted to be refilled on Hope Estate.
With the organisers of the Greek Festival of Sydney, our paperwork said one thing, our discussions were different, and then our emails different again. Although we fully understand the stresses in organising such a big event as “Greek Fest at the Hunter” and how changes may occur, I was extremely uncomfortable with so much uncertainty and confusion surrounding our preparations and organisation that I could not provide adequate information to the network of businesses and staff I had engaged to ensure a smooth operation for the three stalls which were eventually requested of me from the original agreement of 4.
We were truly looking forward to being part of “Greek Fest on the Hunter” and confident we could service the crowd- on our shop prices, not inflated festival prices- as we are an established brand with multiple prospective locations across Sydney, and appreciate the stresses the community have faced in the past year. It was unfortunate, and not easy, that I had to come to this difficult decision to withdraw from “Greek Feast at the Hunter”.
I would like to wish all the very best to the Greek Festival of Sydney in their future endeavours. I wish to highlight that my businesses are always open and available to support such important events, when organised and structured properly, in our community, and look forward to doing so in the future.
Greek Festival of Sydney responds:
The Greek Herald reached out to the Greek Festival of Sydney organising committee for a comment after obtaining the above statement from Mr Sinadinos and this is what a spokesperson had to say:
The Greek Festival of Sydney maintained frequent communication with Mr & Mrs Sinadinos in the leadup to Greek Fest in the Hunter, supplying them with all the relevant documents and instructions they would require to operate stalls at the event.
The vendor documents and agreements were prepared by Hope Estate and detailed all inclusions for stallholders (including power). Mr Sinadinos signed the vendor application, acknowledging that he had read and fully understood the terms and conditions of the application.
Mr Sinadinos had assured us that he would not have any difficulty in transporting food to the venue from Sydney as his family also operates a truck company. As the attendance numbers grew, the Greek Festival of Sydney sent ticketing updates to Mrs Sinadinos to ensure that they would be able to meet the demands of a crowd of 5000 people. Mrs Sinadinos expressed complete confidence in being able to service all of our patrons.
Despite our support of Big Fat Greek, Hope Estate insisted on adding more food vendors. This was communicated to Mr & Mrs Sinadinos on Thursday 13 May. We received an email from Mr Sinadinos withdrawing from the event on Friday 14 May.
Catering to a crowd of 5000 people is a big undertaking and we can understand it may have been overwhelming for a vendor who had not previously operated in a festival setting. The Greek Orthodox Community of NSW is disappointed that Big Fat Greek were unable to join us at the event, however, we are incredibly grateful to Mr & Mrs Sinadinos for their generosity in hosting a fundraiser which raised money for the purchase of a bus for elderly residents of the Greek Orthodox Community Home for the Aged.
Greek Foreign Minister, Nikos Dendias, discussed relations between Greece and Russia and Greece’s role in EU-Russia relations in a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in Sochi on Monday.
In a joint press conference, Dendias shared his optimism that Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, will be able to visit Russia in 2021, and highlighted Greece’s consistent position on normalising relations between Russia and the European Union.
“It is the desire of the Greek government to restore relations between the Union and Russia to what it was in the past, and not to deteriorate further,” Dendias said.
In a joint press conference, Dendias shared his optimism that Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, will be able to visit Russia in 2021.
“We believe Russia is an integral part of the security structure of Europe and has an important role to play in countering regional and international challenges.”
He also noted the importance of maintaining open communication between Russia and the EU, in an effort to “return to an atmosphere of mutual respect, normalisation, and following that at a later time, a strengthening of EU-Russian ties.” Dendias said that this is the message Mitsotakis will bring to his EU counterparts.
The two ministers also discussed financial issues, including trade and tourism.
“We have been ready for a week to welcome Russians who desire to visit Greece and have been vaccinated or are in possession of a negative test. I have asked the Russian side to restart flights between the two countries. I am repeating this publicly and I asked the minister himself,” he said.
Στις διευρυμένες συνομιλίες των αντιπροσωπειών 🇬🇷🇷🇺. Συζητήσαμε για τη διμερή & την πολυμερή συνεργασία, καθώς και για τις περιφερειακές εξελίξεις. Εxpanded talks between 🇬🇷🇷🇺 delegations. Βilateral & multilateral cooperation, regional developments in focus. pic.twitter.com/lbUGfM2E89
On his side, Lavrov discussed the long bonds that connect Greece and Russia, going as far back as 1827 and Russian intervention in the Greek War of Independence.
Lavrov stated that cooperation between the two countries continues to gradually improve, particularly with the contribution of constructive political dialogue at the highest level.
“Today we examined the progress of applying the deals achieved by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, as well as the decisions discussed during the meeting of the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin on March 24 and their telephone conversation on May 5,” he said.
Greek industrialist and shipowner, Constantinos Angelopoulos, died in Athens on Monday aged 76.
He had suffered from a rare form of arthritis from a young age that had gradually impaired his mobility.
Angelopoulos was the son of the Panagiotis Angelopoulos, who was the founder of Chalivourgiki, Greece’s first steel foundry and works. The company was closely associated with the course of the country’s economy and the construction of major infrastructural works in the 1950s.
Greek industrialist and shipowner, Constantinos Angelopoulos, died in Athens on Monday aged 76.
He also had a brother called Theodoros.
After completing ASOEE, the current Athens University of Economics & Business, he continued his studies in Switzerland before getting involved with the family business.
He also ventured into the shipping industry, and was the managing director of Arcadia Shipmanagement Co Ltd, which he ran with his sons Panagiotis and Giorgos.
