The Michigan diaspora community greeted Yiannis Loverdos

The previous visit had taken place a few days after Mr. Loverdos, was sworn in while the second took place from June 12 to 18, 2025 in the Midwestern States of the USA, specifically in Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland, Ohio, and was organized by the Consul General of Greece in Chicago, Mr. Manos Koumbarakis, and his associates.

On the second trip, Mr. Loverdos was accompanied by the Director of the Diplomatic Office of the Deputy Minister Zoe Tsirakopoulou and had private meetings with the Metropolitans of Chicago, Mr. Nathanael, of Detroit, Mr. Nikolaos, and of Pittsburgh, Mr. Savvas.

During the first trip, he had met with the Archbishop of America, Mr. Elpidophoros, and the Metropolitan of New Jersey, Mr. Apostolos.

So, so far, he has met with half of the Holy Eparchial Synod.

Although the official announcements issued by the Deputy Foreign Ministry responsible for issues of Hellenism abroad do not specifically mention the issues raised by the hierarchs and the Archbishop of America, Mr. Elpidophoros himself, nevertheless, judging from the statement of Mr. Loverdos that the meeting with Mr. Elpidophoros was of a ceremonial nature, we can conclude that the meetings with the other hierarchs were similar.

This emphasizes the not very satisfactory state of relations between Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the Greek government with the Archbishop of America, Mr. Elpidophoros, during thw last two years.

The Hellenic American Congress of Michigan

Yannis Loverdos’ visit to Michigan was historic in every sense of the word, on the one hand due to the visits to the Metropolis, the Greek Museum of Detroit and the communities of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary in Detroit and St. Nicholas in Troy, Michigan, and on the other hand due to the pilgrimage to the city of Ypsilantis and the laying of a wreath at the bust of Demetrios Ypsilantis.

It was historic because it was the only visit by a Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs responsible for issues of Greeks abroad, after the era of Grigoris Niotis and Takis Skandalakis, in which the Deputy Minister answered the questions of ordinary Greeks and spersonaaly witnessed the superhuman efforts made by the Consuls General and the employees of the consular authorities are in no way sufficient and, most importantly, cannot cover the understaffing of the consular authorities.

The Greeks at the open gathering at "Karmanos Hall" in Agios Nikolaos in Troy, Michigan asked Mr. Loverdos to institutionalize the initiative of Consul General Manos Koumbarakis, so that at regular intervals, Consulate staff can visit the states under their jurisdiction in order to serve the needs of the Greek diaspora for civil registry acts, for the issuance of passports and for the acquisition of Greek citizenship.

The meeting once again raised the long-standing request of the Greek diaspora to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to upgrade the Deputy Ministry to a Ministry of Hellenism Abroad.

The success of Mr. Loverdos in Michigan is due to the tireless efforts of the leadership of the American Hellenic Congress of Michigan (AHC).

President Olga Alavanou was unable to attend due to her emergency trip to Greece and the greatest burden was shouldered by the Vice President of the Congress Ioannis Katsimparis and his associates, while the pilgrimage of Mr. Loverdos to the city of Ypsilantis, the trisagion and the laying of a wreath were undertaken by the brothers Yannis and Konstantinos Kaunas.

The Kaunas brothers are owners of the company "International Door Inc." hail from Larissa and occupy a prominent position in the long list of benefactors of the communities, the organized bodies of the Greek community and the parade.

The trisagion at the bust of Demetrios Ypsilantis was conducted by Fr. Nikolaos Kotsis, an Epirotan from Ann Arbor, Fr. Markos from Plymouth and Fr. Michael Varlamos from the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in St. Clair Shores.

The bust of Demetrios Ypsilantis has been placed in front of the old aqueduct of the city, which was erected in 1890 and about six decades after the municipality was named Ypsilantis Michigan.

The city of Ypsilantis is the only city in the USA where the blue and white flag wave 365 days a year.