A Ryanair flight from Athens to Lithuanian capital Vilnius was diverted while over Belarus airspace on Sunday, and was forced to land in Minsk with the sole purpose of arresting journalist Roman Protasevich, who has been critical of the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko.
The flight map shows the aircraft was about to cross into Lithuanian airspace before suddenly changing direction.
The flight map.
Lithuanian President, Gitanas Nauseda, reacted by tweeting “Unprecedented event! A civilian passenger plane flying to Vilnius was forcibly landed in Minsk. Belarusian political activist & founder of (online information stream) @NEXTA_EN was on the plane. He is arrested. (Belarus) regime is behind the abhorrent action. I demand to free Roman Protasevi(ch) urgently!”
There are conflicting reports on what happened. In one, there was supposedly a call for a suspected bomb on board. In another, coming from NEXTA, Belarus KGB officers, who had boarded the plane in Athens, caused a commotion. NEXTA’s managing director also reported about a fighter directing the civilian airliner into Minsk airport. None of those reports have been confirmed yet.
Belarus President, Alexander Lukashenko. Photo: Sergei Sheleg/BelTA Pool Photo via AP, File.
The Associated Press reported that “(Belarus’) presidential press service said President Alexander Lukashenko personally ordered that a MiG-29 fighter jet accompany the Ryanair plane…to the Minsk airport.”
Greece’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has released a statement strongly condemning the forced diversion of the Ryanair Athens-Vilnius flight to Minsk, Belarus.
.@GreeceMFA statement on the incident of forced landing of Ryanair FR4978 in Minsk, Belarus
“Greece strongly condemns the state hijacking that took place today and resulted in the forced landing of Ryanair FR 4978, which operated the Athens-Vilnius route, in Minsk, Belarus,” the statement reads.
“The plane had a total of 171 passengers on board, 11 of whom are Greek citizens. This act, which endangered the lives of all passengers, is unacceptable.”
Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, also said in a post on Twitter: “The forced landing of a commercial plane to detain a journalist is an unprecedented, shocking act.”
The forced landing of a commercial plane to detain a journalist is an unprecedented, shocking act. We demand all passengers’ immediate release. Tomorrow’s #EUCO must address the need to step up pressure on Belarus. Enough is enough.
— Prime Minister GR (@PrimeministerGR) May 23, 2021
“We demand all passengers’ immediate release. Tomorrow’s #EUCO must address the need to step up pressure on Belarus. Enough is enough,” he continued.
European Council President, Charles Michel, added he was “very concerned” by the reports of a forced landing and called on Belarus authorities “to immediately released the flight and all its passengers.”
Second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas claimed his seventh ATP title after beating Britain’s Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-3 in the final of the Lyon Open on Sunday.
Tsitsipas, who dropped only one set in the entire tournament, wrapped up the match in 69 minutes to add a second title in the claycourt swing after winning last month’s Monte Carlo Masters.
“I felt like things were going my way, I’m proud of this performance against Cameron since he’s been winning against big players and showing what left-handers can do on clay,” Tsitsipas said in a post-match interview on court.
— Stefanos Tsitsipas (@steftsitsipas) May 23, 2021
Speaking of his plans ahead of the French Open later this month, he said: “It’s about getting there as early as possible, starting practice and getting in shape for the big Parisian Grand Slam which I adore and love.
“Hopefully something good can come out of it.”
The 22-year-old Greek won on the back of a strong service game, winning 82% of his first serve points while he broke Norrie three times in the match.
Tsitsipas, ranked fifth in the world, also leads the ATP Race to Turin’s season-ending tournament with 33 wins this year.
Over the years we have seen and felt the inefficiencies of the people that run the Greek Festival of Sydney. This year takes the award for the worst planning blunders ever. We all know and see it, yet no one is prepared to speak up, to call those running the Festival to account, to bring about the change necessary to run these events professionally. Where does the problem lie? and why has the Greek Orthodox Community of NSW (GOC) Board been so silent on the matter?
The food vendors, the musicians, the venues, find doing business with the Festival Committee challenging; their inexperience and proven inability in running professional events. Most now see this as normal, accept it and expect it. Those running the Festival have simply been there too long, they serve themselves rather than the people, and they have poor management and event planning skills. They are unpopular and often enter into arrangements that compromise the Greek Community as a whole.
The President and the Board can sit back and cop the criticisms, or they can fix the problems. Yesterday’s Hope Estate event was innovative and fresh with many people looking forward to something new, but in Michael Hope’s words the event was “nothing but an unmitigated disaster and totally unacceptable”. Further, it appears some comments reflecting this have been deleted from the Festival’s Facebook Page. The letter from Mr Hope distancing himself from the Festival is in itself the single biggest criticism to act on those responsible. The apology from GOC is nothing more than a tongue-in-cheek note to appease.
Let’s start with this year’s first disaster at the Town Hall with the Hymn to Liberty concert, which started over an hour and a half late. The whole ticketing process was a shamble. People stood for over an hour with what they thought was their electronic ticket only to be given a manual ticket at the entry. On top of this the event was delayed as many dignitaries proceeded to the Opera House first to flick the switch at 8:00pm. It is also well known that the Festival, even though it called for the lighting of the Opera House initially, tried to change the date of the lighting at the last minute.
The orchestra and the singers waited over 2 hours to commence the performance. A big Bravo! to all those who performed, even though it was deliberately delayed, was wonderful.
Next the City Recital Hall concert with Dimitri Basis. An excellent event but behind the scenes disunity and professional ethics compromised. With 2 wonderful Greek choirs now in Sydney, GOC sought it fit not to engage with either of them, but undermined both Choirs by writing directly to the singers to lure them into performing for free and without acclaim. This is an act compromises the call for Greek unity.
While we are on the City Recital Hall concert, the question must be raised as to why Dimitri Basis again? Don’t misunderstand me, but there are many more excellent performers than Basis, and this is now the 5th year he has performed for the Festival. Do we have a conflict of interest here? It remains unclear if there is a financial interest and to whom and how much? The community expects an explanation!
Then, we have the Greek Fest in Polkolbin, which was a paid event. 5000 people at $35 is $175,000. The complaints have been many, from the children dancing on gravel, while the stage remained empty, with cues for food up to 2 hours and cues to get in with bag checks and food and water confiscated from the elderly. The Festival failed badly, putting people at risk and creating more disunity within the Greek community.
Now a tit for tat between Hope Estate and the GOC has started, as GOC refuses to ever take responsibility for the failure of its events, blaming the venue, or the suppliers, or the performers.
The GOC represents the people of NSW, in fact it belongs to its members. The Festival of Sydney is a celebration of our Greek community. As each year passes it becomes more self-centred to those that run the Festival, servicing their needs, and not the community.
There is growing anger within the community, but there is also growing frustration with those involved with the Festival Committee as it is not transparent on the multiple Government Grants it receives, keeps changing the goalposts for those willing to support them in these events and does not uphold professional standards in its dealings. How can it be seen as ethical, when the whole GOC is a law unto itself, controlling its membership to only those that will support its decisions.
Whatever the community may be thinking, GOC needs a renewal, as there are too many blunders, too much money is being wasted and there is now a lack of trust and the community is asking questions. GOC is not a private business, it is a community Association and the community has the right to and expects full and open transparency from the GOC.
The GOC Board must address this matter and give the community the answers it deserves, and begin the process of finding suitable people to plan and execute what should be the biggest Greek Festival in Australia.
A special ceremony was held at the Martin Place epitaph in Sydney’s CBD on Saturday to commemorate 80 years since the Battle of Crete.
The ceremony was attended by Battle of Crete war veterans, descendants, Members of Parliament and Greek Community leaders as they remembered the Greek, Australian, British and New Zealand troops who desperately tried defending Greece against a huge German airborne assault on May 20, 1941.
Honourable dignitaries present at the event included His Eminence Archbishop Makarios, Lieutenant Commander Robert Valler Aide-deCamp, representing Her Excellency Margaret Beazley, David Elliott, Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Matt Thistlethwaite MP, representing Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese, Christos Karras, Consul General of Greece in Sydney, Trade Commissioner Katia Gkikiza, Emilios Michael, representing Cyprus High Commissioner Martha Mavrommati.
Photo: The Greek Herald/ Peter Oglos
Photo: The Greek Herald/ Peter Oglos
Photo: The Greek Herald/ Peter Oglos
Photo: The Greek Herald/ Peter Oglos
“Australians remember that battle, and we too draw strength from that courage, an example of those who have done so much to bring freedom,” David Elliott said on behalf of the Prime Minister.
“In the aftermath of a battle fought with honour, and conceded without disgrace, a deep friendship was forged.”
Messages for the anniversary from Konstantinos Floros, Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff, and Prof. John Chrysoulakis, Secretary General for Public Diplomacy and Greeks Abroad, were played on a screen.
“As we commemorate this anniversary, we also celebrate the warm friendship between Greece and Australia,” Christos Karras said.
Photo: The Greek Herald/ Peter Oglos
Photo: The Greek Herald/ Peter Oglos
Photo: The Greek Herald/ Peter Oglos
Photo: The Greek Herald/ Peter Oglos
“…We celebrate our foreign values which bind us together as great friends.”
A notable guest for the ceremony was 104-year-old Alf Carpenter; One of Australia’s oldest surviving Anzacs and Battle of Crete survivor. Carpenter said The Ode in English, accompanied by Greek RSL President Peter Tsigounis who said the Ode in Greek, before he was assisted in placing a wreath onto the epitaph. Meeting with the Archbishop following the ceremony, the two briefly exchanged thoughts on the unique landscape of the island.
Photo: The Greek Herald/ Peter Oglos
Photo: The Greek Herald/ Peter Oglos
Photo: The Greek Herald/ Peter Oglos
Photo: The Greek Herald/ Peter Oglos
“United in war, we are often united in peace. These principles and ideals are as relevant today… as we pursuit a peaceful co-existence in a multicultural society, with a shared respect for our cultural diversity,” Archbishop Makarios said in his speech.
Students of St Spyridon, All Saints Grammar and St Euphemia all represented their schools with honour, also joining children from the Cretan Association of NSW in laying flowers on the epitaph.
Stella Tzobanakis went from a byline to a headline with the release of her debut book Creforce: The Anzacs and the Battle of Crete but it was just this year, the battle’s 80th anniversary, that Creforce’s dedicatee picked up the book for the first time.
“He’s just read the book as he is now 10… I know he’s biased, but he actually loves [it]. It was so rewarding to… give meaning to his heritage…
“…now the pieces of our family jigsaw puzzle are coming together and he’s really curious.”
Creforce gives readers as young as 10 a front-row seat to the Battle of Crete.
There’s a reason why it’s on the Premier’s Reading Challenge List across Australia. It was funded by the Australian Council for The Drum series and remains one of the few children’s books that passes down Anzac stories from the Battle of Crete.
Children are typically introduced to Roald Dahl in a different way, but in Creforce, he’s not the only familiar real-life ‘character’.
Tzobanakis’ now 10-year-old son, Otto, at Souda Bay Cemetery in Crete (Supplied)
Creforce features the likes of Australia’s first Aboriginal Army officerReginald Saunders, The Cretan Runner George Psychoundakis, and Horrie the Wog Dog.
“…there were two ANZACs – Charles Jager and Ben Travers – who were harbored by the Cretan people… [who] dressed them up as Cretan yiayiades and [taught] them how to walk, talk in the dialect, force them to stop smoking and swing their arms when they’re walking down the street like a soldier, and it helped them to escape the island and survive and write their story of their experience.”
But others weren’t so lucky, Tzobanakis says.
“There are still, I’m sure, so many stories out there that we don’t know about and that’s why it’s really important that the spotlight is put on this battle a lot more because their stories will just get lost if they’re not told,” she says.
“It’s up to us to keep those stories alive so we can learn from them, too.”
Creforce got a revamp last year, with a new cover, revisions, and updated information.
Writing Creforce was a “very emotional” two-year process, Tzobanakis says, involving vigorous fact-checking and a full immersion of Crete.
Horrie the Wog Dog was a little terrier who became an unofficial mascot of the Anzacs. (Picture: The Australian War Memorial)
“I would play sounds of the Ju87 Stuka dive Bombers [German planes] … the screaming sirens of those planes as they were nosediving, just to get an image of how the people of Crete, or any ANZACs and Allied soldiers, would have felt to hear that noise and how terrifying it was.…
“I really feel like I kind of lived it a little. I was really trying to mentally ‘go there’ and I hope that the book does that to some extent; transports you into their world so you can imagine a little bit of what they might have experienced.”
“The second Anzacs and the people of Greece and Crete really fought together, risked their lives for one another and now have bonds that will last a lifetime.
“It’s an extraordinary largely untold story and hopefully through this book and other initiatives, will become as well-known as Gallipoli.”
Creforce: The Anzacs and the Battle of Crete is available at http://stelitsahome.bigcartel.com
A book written by a Greek-Australian doctor in the 1970s has re-emerged as a pivotal text for Australia’s anti-vaccination movement.
The obituaries when Dr Archie Kalokerinos died in 2012 spoke glowingly of his service to Indigenous health. The Sydney Morning Herald credited him with cutting the infant mortality rate to zero in some regional NSW communities.
Former prime minister John Howard praised Kalokerinos for his “consistent and selfless efforts”.
What wasn’t mentioned was Kalokerinos’ claims that vaccinations were a cause of vitamin C deficiency.
His proposed treatment for almost every malady was large doses of the vitamin to boost the immune system. While large doses of vitamin C can help with scurvy and other deficiencies, there is no evidence to suggest it can help with strokes and diabetes.
He was reported to have given speeches at events run by Australia’s longest running anti-vaccination group, the Australian Vaccination Network.
He spoke about how the World Health Organization and Save the Children Fund were deliberately committing genocide through a mass vaccination program, and how the US government was conspiring to kill certain populations by encouraging those with known heart problems to get vaccinated.
Every Second Child is long out of print. But that hasn’t stopped it from becoming a core text for today’s anti-vaccination campaigners. Copies of the paperback are listed for sale on Amazon at more than $900 for Australian buyers.
The Australian Vaccination Network (which has since been renamed) posted in February that the book was a reason that Indigenous Australians were wary of being vaccinated.
One website hosting the free download shows it has been downloaded more than 2400 times. Facebook posts by users, including prominent international anti-vaxxers, that link to this digital copy of the book have received nearly 5000 engagements.
Dr Gillian Shepherd from La Trobe University will present a lecture entitled The Tomb of the Diver: Life, Death, and Drinking and in the Ancient Greek World, on Thursday 27 May, at 7.00pm, at the Greek Centre, as part of the Greek History and Culture Seminars, offered by the Greek Community of Melbourne.
The “Tomb of Diver” is a fifth century BC grave found outside the Greek city of Poseidonia in South Italy. Despite the fifty years that have elapsed since its discovery, the tomb remains unique: its painted internal walls depict a convivial scene of a symposion, or ritualised Greek drinking party. The symposium was a common subject on painted ancient Greek vases, but highly unusual as funerary decoration. What does this extraordinary scene of drinking and festivity tell us about attitudes to life, death and the afterlife in ancient South Italy, and the occupant of this elaborate grave? And how do we interpret the enigmatic image of the lone diver on the lid of the tomb?
Dr Gillian Shepherd is a lecturer in Ancient Mediterranean Studies and director of the A.D. Trendall Research Centre for Ancient Mediterranean Studies at La Trobe University. Gillian studied Classics and Fine Arts at the University of Melbourne before going on to complete a PhD in Classical Archaeology at Trinity College, Cambridge, followed by a research fellowship at St Hugh’s College, Oxford. Until her return to Australia in 2012 to take up her position at La Trobe University, Gillian was Lecturer in Classical Archaeology at the University of Birmingham, UK. Her research interests include the ancient Greek colonisation of Sicily and Italy, burial customs, the archaeology and art of Greece and Magna Graecia, and childhood in antiquity. She is a co-editor of the recently published Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Childhood.
Date: Thu 27th May 2021, 7pm Location: Greek Centre, (Mezzanine Level, 168 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne). This is a hybrid seminar, can also be followed on Facebook and Youtube.
Georges Sari, born as Georgia Sarivaxevani on 23 of May 1925, was a Greek author and actress. She is considered one of the most important children’s book authors in Greece of all time.
Georges was born in Athens, her father was a Greek from Ayvalik, Turkey, and her mother was French, hence why she was given the name Georges. She graduated and started taking acting classes at Dimitris Rontiris’ drama school, whilst Greece was still under Nazi occupation.
During the Greek Civil War, Georges Sari was wounded, this occurred just after World War II when a bomb exploded near her hand and foot, and she was treated at Agia Olga Hospital. A few years later, in 1946 she was forced to flee to Paris in exile due to the Greek Civil war. Whilst in Paris, she studied acting at the Charles Dullin School of Dramatic Art, she also worked in a range of jobs to support herself.
During her years of exile in France, she met the Egyptian surgeon Marcel Karakosta, with whom she married, and the pair had two children together. Sari returned to Greece with her family in 1962 and began acting in the theatre until the rising of the Military junta. At that point, she and other actor associates chose to partake in passive resistance against the miltary and stopped acting in the theatre.
During this time, she also wrote her first novel called The Treasure of Vaghia. Following her first novel, she published a number of other novels and was considered a successful writer.
Together with Alki Zei (another great Greek writer), she established a new style in the youth novel, both in terms of the vivid, autobiographical style, and the introduction of the political, social and historical element in the genre, which resulted in political thought no longer being a privilege that only adults could read and understand.
With her books, she led to the departure of Greek children’s literature from the standards of the 19th century, which was usually written with very dominant and protective styles, ethical teaching and the promotion of an imaginary world. Georges Sarri treated the child as an autonomous and free person with his or her own personality, and this is why she portrayed realistic heroes in her novel.
Most of her novels were addressed to the youth of Greece, and she often chose to talk about topics that revolved around important moments in modern Greek history, such as the second world war and the Greek Civil War.
Gerges Sarri received the Best Children’s Literature Book Award in 1994 for her book Ninety (a semi-autobiography of her sister). She received the Greek Cycle of Books twice, once in 1995 and again in 1999. In addition to these awards, she was also nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 1988. Throughout her life Georges Sarri was a pioneer of critical thought and influenced many young Greeks to think deeper.
On the 9th of June 2012, Georges Sari, aged 87 passed away in Athens, although her influence on the youth of Greece is always present through her novels.
Greece has finished equal-tenth in the 65th Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, as Italy took home the trophy.
It’s Italy’s first win after returning to the Eurovision Song Contest in 2011 was the first victory for a band since 2006.
Italy scooped up a massive 318 points from the public vote, putting the rock song above national jury winners Switzerland, France and Malta. “Rock and roll never dies,” the winning band, Måneskin, proclaimed when taking the stage to perform their winning song Zitti E Buoni again.
— Eurovision Song Contest (@Eurovision) May 22, 2021
The show took place in Rotterdam, in front of a limited capacity of 3,500 fans, and had all the thrills and spills you’d expect.
In the top 10 was Italy, France, Iceland, Ukraine, Finland, Switzerland, Malta, Lithuania, Russia and Greece and Bulgaria on an equal score.
Greece placed equal 10th in the competition. Photo: Eurovision Song Contest.
The UK’s James Newman finished last, with zero points, being the first time a zero point score has been given from both the professional juries and the public of Europe.
Stefania’s Last Dance captivated the crowd with her stunning visual tricks used with the background of her performance. Her Eurovision entry was written by a team of Eurovision veterans including Dimitris Kontopoulos (You Are The Only One and Shady Lady), Greek production team Arcade and Sharon Vaughn (Scream and Waterline).
Melbourne locals have expressed concern over a proposed structure plan for the Preston Market, which could see the precinct become home to up to 6,000 new residents by 2041.
Jim Katsaros has run Athina’s Deli for 10 years and comes to the Preston Market almost every day since arriving in Australia from Greece as an 11-year-old boy.
“The atmosphere is really what counts at the end,” he said to ABC News.
“You can find shopping centres all over the place, it will never be the same.”
The Victorian Planning Authority wants more people to be living in “20-minute neighbourhoods”, where all daily needs and public transport can be found within a 20-minute walk from home.
The Preston Market opened in 1970 and is Melbourne’s second-biggest market.(Supplied: Darebin Appropriate Development Association)
If that’s the mission, a parcel of land on the cusp of Melbourne’s inner-north next to a train station is a goldmine.
A proposed structure plan for the area released this week shows the potential introduction of a cinema, fitness centre, medical and childcare centres, community spaces and offices, which the authority says could support up to 1,400 ongoing jobs.
To make space for all that, the demolition of most of the original market structure would be allowed, but the fruit and vegetable shed would remain intact.
Site developers would be forced to include a fresh food market of at least the same trading size as the current market.
Under the structure plan, high-rise developments could house thousands of people on and around the market site.(Supplied: Victorian Planning Authority)
Mr Katsaros wants to see the market preserved through the development, so his children can have the opportunity to take on the family business if they choose.
“All I’m saying is I wish Salta, the owners, do a good job and look after the people, that is my wish,” he said.
“If they don’t, they’re going to create problems for everyone.”
He said generations of Melburnians from Pascoe Vale to Heidelberg had not built such loyalty to the market because of “glitter and the glamour”.
Mr Katsaros’s family deli is named after his wife, Athina.(ABC News: Joseph Dunstan)
“You need family-created businesses where you can sell fresh stuff and cater for human beings,” he said.
The VPA’s CEO, Stuart Moseley, said the plan would help deal with a “sea of carparking” that was underused two days a week.
Mr Moseley said the idea was to transform the space into a “thriving precinct” for the future.
“The planning rules we have released will ensure there is a market on that site, that it is a fresh food market, that it has the same look, feel … trading area as it currently does and that it has that vibe about it that makes it special,” he said.
