HMA Kate Smith travels to Rhodes
British Ambassador Kate Smith CMG visited Rhodes to meet with local authorities and businesses.
This was HM Ambassador’s second official visit to the island of Rhodes. During her 2-day stay (February 7 and 8, 2019), the Ambassador had the opportunity to meet with local authorities and representatives of the local academic and business community as well as with UK nationals living on the island.
The Ambassador’s trip was organized in coordination with the short stay of the British Royal Navy Ship, HMS ECHO, which was anchored at the port of Rhodes for a few days while on a break from its mission in the Mediterranean. HMS Echo is a Plymouth-based survey ship, designed to carry out a wide range of survey work – including support to submarine and amphibious operations.
HMA Kate Smith held a press conference on board, offering the opportunity to local media representatives to join a guided tour of the ship and learn more about its operation. A reception on board followed later that night with representatives of the local authorities and the Rhodes community.
The Ambassador held individual meetings with the Mayor of Rhodes, Mr. Fotis Chatzidiakos, and the Regional Governor of the South Aegean, Mr. George Chatzimarkos, with whom she discussed a range of issues, such as the challenges and opportunities that local authorities face and the prospects foreseen in the economy, especially in tourism. Also discussed were the latest developments regarding the UK’s exit from the EU, with focus on working together towards ensuring a smooth transition for the nearly 4000 UK nationals living on the Dodecanese islands.
EU Exit developments were the main topic of interest in the 3 other engagements which HM Ambassador Kate Smith partook in while in Rhodes:
- an outreach event where the Ambassador met with 140 UK nationals, providing official information and answering questions
- a round-table discussion at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Dodecanese with President, Ioannis Pappou and local businessmen. The discussion revolved around securing and strengthening trade relations between Greece and the UK after the EU Exit, with tourism at the forefront
- a speech at the University of the Aegean, followed by an interesting and constructive debate with the University students
This trip was part of a series of visits HM Ambassador Kate Smith CMG has been conducting across Greece.