Embassy of Greece, Washington, D.C.


The Embassy of Greece in Washington, D.C. is the Hellenic Republic's diplomatic mission to the United States. It is located at 2217 Massachusetts Avenue, Northwest, Washington, D.C. in the Embassy Row neighborhood, near Sheridan Circle. The Embassy complex consists of three buildings. The current ambassador is Haris Lalacos.

History

After the War of Independence, which started in 1821, Greece was declared an independent state but it was not until 3 February 1830 that the Independence was recognized by the Great Powers with the signing of the Protocol of London. On 7 May 1832 Otto of Greece arrived in Nafplion and Greece became a Kingdom. The United States, however, recognized the Greek state only in 1833. In December 1837 a commercial treaty was signed, which regulated trade between the two countries. The first Greek consulate to be established was that of New Orleans, in 1866. Records indicate that Nicolas Benachi was the first Greek consul in New Orleans. In 1867, Demetrios Nicholas Botassis was named Consul General of Greece in New York City.

Former Ambassadors

;Legation raised to Embassy
Diplomatic agrémentDiplomatic accreditationambassador
September 29, 2005October 3, 2005Alexandros Mallias
June 24, 2009July 20, 2009Vassilis Kaskarelis
September 17, 2012September 19, 2012Christos Panagopoulos
June 2016Haris Lalacos

Consulates

The Embassy is also responsible for other eight Greek diplomatic missions throughout the United States, each one responsible for certain states: