The Greek consul reported the horror of the families who came from Mariupol to Odessa.
The Greek presence in Odessa is ancient. To remember it, just look at the more than 2,000-year-old amphora that Dimitris Dohtsis displays in his treasury. “They were found during some excavations in the neighboring streets,” explains the Consul General of Greece in Ukrainian Palmyra.
Perhaps for this reason, the diplomacy of Athens was the first to re-enact it in the city. “It was a small break of three weeks,” the consul says. The doors of the consulate reopened last Sunday. The ceremony was presided over by Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias. At dawn that day, Russian missiles reached the city. But the governor of Athens did not think for a moment to cancel the visit.
Nikos Dendias used the visit to announce his willingness to lead a convoy of humanitarian aid into Mariupol (the city of Maria, in Greek), a city founded by Greeks from… Crimea that Putin now claims. This is not possible at the moment, but the representative of Athens insists that as soon as there are security conditions, the wish must be fulfilled.
Dimitris Dohtsis spends a large part of the day coordinating the distribution of humanitarian aid from Athens. He admits that he did not expect to find himself in these jobs when he was appointed to the position just over a year ago. In short, “It’s something I no longer expect to see in the twenty-first century and in a European country.”
The missions in Kosovo and Baghdad gave him experience in dealing with the new framework. “We become very organized and very practical. We focus on the substance of things, and how they might work, rather than the boring tasks that people usually associate with diplomacy.”
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The expulsion of citizens of Greek origin from the country is a matter of concern for the Consul. To date, 2,000 Greek passport holders have left Ukraine. But there is still a lot. Dimitris admits he does not know how many there are, but 2001 data indicated that approximately 100,000 people of Greek descent would live in the country. Moreover, in many villages in the region, Rumica, a dialect that has its origins in ancient Greek, is still spoken. From the city precisely besieged by the Russian army, two families who had reached the consulate managed to escape the day before. “They melted snow to get water, they cooked food in the street with bullets and mortars over their heads. There are people who died and for ten days could not hold a religious funeral, or even bury them. Mothers who only found parts of children’s organs after a missile attack. Stories that Share it would break anyone’s hearts, but I think it would leave psychological scars on them.”
The diplomat asserts that he does not have much information about what is happening inside the city defended by the Azov Battalion. But you can see that “from a human point of view, this is an unprecedented situation”.
Demetris Dohtsis does not believe that Odessa will have the same fate as Mariupol. “I don’t have a crystal ball, but I don’t think that will happen. I see people who are in very high spirits, and I see that the Ukrainian forces are very motivated.”
