Biden Considers Nominating George Tsunis New US Ambassador to Greece

Geirge Tsunis - US ambassador Greece — George Tsunis, (center) attends New York City’s Greek Independence Parade as an honorary guest. Credit: George Tsunis / Facebook

US President Joe Biden is reported to be considering Greek American lawyer and hotel magnate George Tsunis as a new ambassador of the US to Greece.

According to a report of the Associated Press, President Biden might offer this prestigious position to Tsunis, allowing him to become the next American Ambassador to Greece.

”Biden is considering nominating Democratic fundraiser George Tsunis, founder and CEO of Chartwell Hotels, to serve as ambassador to Greece,” the AP report stated.

”Tsunis was nominated by Obama in 2013 to serve as ambassador to Norway but gave up on consideration after a difficult Senate confirmation hearing. Tsunis acknowledged during the hearing that he had not visited Norway and mistakenly referred to the country’s head of government as “president” rather than “prime minister,” the report continues.

Who is George Tsunis

George James Tsunis is a Greek American lawyer and hotel magnate, who supported Joe Biden’s campaign for the Democratic nomination from the beginning.

In 2018 he had said, according to Politico: “Don’t let anyone fool you: If he decides to run, you will see a national infrastructure come together.”

“In the past when he’s run, there has been a formidable primary opponent … If he chooses to run in 2020, he would be the Obama-Clinton-like candidate. I think people would feel his time is now, and I think a lot of the country would feel that we need a Joe Biden as president.”

Tsunis, the son of first-generation immigrants from Greece, James and Eleni Tsunis, is the chairman and CEO of Chartwell Hotels/ The company owns, develops and manages Hilton, Marriott and Intercontinental hotels in Pennsylvania, New York, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. The Greek-American also manages his family’s portfolio of real estate holdings.

After registering as a Democrat in November 2009, Tsunis raised at least $500,000 for Obama’s 2012 campaign, and donated $300,000 to Democratic super PACs and $75,800 to the Obama Victory Fund, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

According to state records, Tsunis and his wife, Olga, have given $115,000 to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s 2014 re-election campaign.

He was nominated as U.S. ambassador to Norway by President Obama, but later indicated that he was no longer seeking the nomination.

Tsunis has been honored by the Cyprus Federation of America. In a former statement, he had underlined that Washington must do its utmost to help Cyprus by forcing the Turkish army to leave the occupied part of the island.

The current US ambassador to Greece

The current ambassador of the United States to Greece is Geoffrey Pyatt.

Pyatt was formerly ambassador to Ukraine. On May 19, 2016, he was nominated by U.S. President Barack Obama to serve as United States Ambassador to Greece.

He was born in 1963 in La Jolla, a suburb of San Diego, California. He received his bachelor’s degree in political studies in 1985 at the University of California, Irvine, and a master’s degree in international relations at Yale University in 1987.

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