The Regional Governor of the North Aegean Konstantinos Moutzouris and the Regional Authority, hosted a dinner on Thursday evening, 3 April 2025, in honour of the Ambassadors of the Member States of the European Union in Athens, who paid an official visit to Lesbos.

The event was also attended by the presidents of Switzerland and Norway, countries which, although not members of the EU, are nevertheless members of the European Economic Area (EEA) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA/EEA).

The reason why the Embassy of Poland attended with so many representatives is that Warsaw holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU this semester.

Northern Aegean Regional Governor Konstantinos Moutzouris, in his greeting and addressing the honored ambassadors, after making a brief review of what happened in the islands of the North Aegean from 2019 until today, asserted that Lesvos and Chios will not accept any migrant structure.

As he said in his speech:

According to his statement,

“I am happy that you are here. Lesvos, with a long history in culture, has suffered from migratory flows for the last 15 years. When I was elected Regional Governor in 2019, I saw a frightening situation with 25,000 to 28,000 migrants in a population of 90,000 residents. And they were people who entered the country illegally, from different cultures, with some of them with aggressive behavior. In 2020, the Greek government made a big mistake, trying to impose migrant structures on our islands, Lesvos and Chios, using riot police. The residents revolted and resisted, with me being the first to resist. Because these islands are opposite Turkey and are the border of Greece and Europe. After that, the government emptied the islands, and in Lesvos, we went from 28,000 to 2,000 illegal immigrants today, who are staying in a structure in Kara Tepe, which we are pushing to close.

We will not allow any structure to operate, we will not allow the structure built with European funds to operate. We will resist and we will not allow it, I warn you and I mean it. Do not attempt it. We want to get on with our lives, we have no problem with legal immigrants, but we don’t want immigrants coming illegally in the middle of the night. Excuse my tone, but that’s how I feel and I’ve been empowered by residents to express their feelings about immigration. Lesvos and Chios are not Corfu and Kefalonia, which are across the border from Italy. We are opposite a country with a different culture and customs. We welcomed Syrian migrants when the migration started, we accommodated them, we helped them, because most of them wanted to go to Germany, Scandinavia and other European countries. But when illegal economic migrants started coming in, people changed their feelings. I am not a politician, I was a dean at the Polytechnic and when I left I decided to become a politician but I am not talking to you as a politician. Thank you for coming, it is a great honour for us to have you here.”

Focusing on the migration issue and the visit to Lesvos of the Ambassadors of the EU Member States, As well as the efforts for the promotion of Lesvos and the other islands of the Region, a press conference was held, which was organized by the Regional Governor of the North Aegean Konstantinos Moutzouris, accompanied by the former Commissioner of Greece to the European Union and former Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos, from the Minister of Tourism Policy and Development Vasiliki Koutsoukou and the Artistic Director of the Athens Concert Hall Yannis Vakarelis.

Dimitris Avramopoulos spoke for more substantial action from the European Union on migration, while everyone congratulated Konstantinos Moutzouris for his work and the extroversion of his Region.

The action on May 22, 2025, where a large Greek business delegation from the NE will visit Turkey with the aim of strengthening relations and business synergies, is considered important.

Commissioner of Greece to the European Union and former Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos, the Artistic Director of the Athens Concert Hall Giannis Vakarelis, the President of the National Committee of Unesco Aikaterini Tzitzikosta, and the Ambassador of Gastronomy of the North Aegean Argyro Barbarigou.

The Gastronomy Ambassador of the North Aegean Region, Argyro Barbarigou, spoke – among other things – about the “journey” to the flavors and products of the place.

“This blessed place, the island of Lesvos, has 11 million olive trees! For this reason, everything is cooked with extra virgin olive oil and local ingredients. The cuisine of this place loves to follow the flow of time, seasonality, and is sustainable. From the field to our table, from the sea to our plate.”

Famous chef Argyro Barbarigou not only “guided” the guests to the local products of the North Aegean Region but also presented the traditional habits of the islands of the North Aegean, as well as typical traditional dishes based on local products of the islands, such as bean soup with mandarin, fresh seafood, almond salads, but also Mytilini’s Ladotyri, a hard cheese with protected designation of origin (PDO), which is produced from sheep or goat’s milk in Lesvos and of course, hachles (a kind of trachana in the shape of a boat).

Musically the evening was accompanied by the AETHER String Quartet from the Athens Concert Hall in works by Dvořák and Skalkot and the Sanduria of the Agiaos Reading Room, while the menu was curated by the Agia Paraskevi Women’s Cooperative with local products from the North Aegean islands.

The Regional Governor expressed – among other things – his sorrow for the tragic shipwreck that occurred on Wednesday, April 2, in Lesvos and which resulted in the death of 7 people, including children, and requested a minute of silence in their memory.

Afterwards, the Santurias of Ayasu played mournfully also honouring the memory of the victims of the shipwreck.