by Christos Zabounis

When in neighboring Albania, the head of the royal family, Prince Leka, is hired at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whereas in neighboring Serbia, the palaces are returned, after the fall of the Milosevic regime, to Prince Alexander, as it happened with King Michael of Romania and King Simeon of Bulgaria, who was even elected prime minister, then one wonders what entered the minds of the leaders of the Hellenic Republic to ask the descendants of the Greek Dynasty to make a declaration of loyalty to the State and to seek a new name, other than their normal one, that is, the one they inherited from their ancestors. It is indeed surprising to see the contrast between the celebrations for the maturity of the Presidential Republic, that turned 50 this year, and the fearful way in which a family that reigned in our country, with breaks, from 1863 to 1973, when the Reigning Monarchy fell under dictatorship, is being treated. How much power does this institution have, so that the Papandreou government, through the Venizelos law in 1994, confiscated royal property and removed Greek citizenship from members of the royal family, and today, thirty years later, instead of repealing the law, the descendants of King Constantine, former King of the Greeks, as is his official title, are called upon to comply with it?