Bay Ridge

Malliotakis named to international board of Greek lawmakers

July 27, 2015 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis, pictured with Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos in Athens, says she discussed the Greek debt crisis with officials in that country. Photo courtesy Malliotakis’s office
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Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis, who is of Greek and Cuban descent, is getting closer to her Greek roots these days.

Malliotakis (R-C-Bay Ridge-Staten Island) has been elected to the board of the World Hellenic Inter-Parliamentary Association, an international organization of elected officials of Greek heritage. Malliotakis’s father, George, is a Greek-American. Her mother, Vera, was born in Cuba.

The association’s members include elected officials from Australia, Canada, South Africa, the U.S., Zimbabwe and Europe.

The group’s mission is to bring together its members from legislatures all over the world to strengthen the relationship between Greece and their countries, according to Malliotakis, who said the association also serves as a think tank.

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Malliotakis was in Athens for the association’s 10th General Assembly, where a variety of issues were discussed and debated, including Greece’s debt crisis and its potential impact on the rest of the world.

Malliotakis and other legislators exchanged ideas and offered suggestions to members of Greece’s Parliament, President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias.

“I am proud of my heritage and honored to be the first American woman elected to the World Hellenic Inter-Parliamentary Association,” Malliotakis said in a statement. “The relationship between Greece and the United States is a strong and important one. The United States has a naval facility in Souda Bay, Crete which has a close proximity to Middle East and Greece’s economic survival is important to the entire world economy. It is in our national security and economic interests that we see Greece succeed.” 

During the General Assembly, the lawmakers from around the world met with Pavlopoulos, Kotzias and Parliament Speaker Zoe Konstantopoulou and cabinet members to offer ideas on how Greece could resolve its economic crisis. 

The legislators also met with representatives from the U.S. Embassy in Athens and the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce to discuss commercial, financial and diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Greece. 

Malliotakis is one of three American legislators elected to the association’s board, along with State Senator Leonidas Raptakis of Rhode Island and State Representative Thomas Katsiantonis of New Hampshire.  

 


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