In an interview with ERTNews, Greek Harvard Medical School Professor Dr. Othon Iliopoulos delivered a stark warning about the climate of fear and uncertainty gripping international students in the United States under the Trump administration’s recent actions against Harvard University.

“In a state of complete ambiguity and threat” is how Iliopoulos described the current condition for foreign students, who make up roughly one-third of Harvard’s student body. “Children are in panic and in great anxiety. It is not only about the Greeks we have at Harvard, it is about all the children who come from about 140 countries of our planet,” he said.

The comments follow a dramatic move by the Trump administration to revoke Harvard’s authorization to enroll international students. The government cited national concerns about “anti-Americanism and antisemitism” as justification for the decision, outlined in a letter from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Harvard, which hosts more than 7,000 foreign students, including graduate students, responded swiftly by filing a lawsuit against the federal government.

“Harvard reacted immediately to this process. On Thursday, this vindictive decision of the government was published and immediately Harvard on Friday morning filed a lawsuit against the United States government and the Massachusetts state court blocked with its decision the directive given by the United States government,” Iliopoulos said. “We are in for a very long legal fight.”

The federal judge’s temporary restraining order halting the policy came just hours after Harvard’s legal filing, which described the administration’s action as a “blatant violation” of constitutional and federal law. The university warned that removing international students would have an “immediate and devastating effect.”

Dr. Iliopoulos, a cancer researcher affiliated with the Krantz Family Center for Cancer Research and Massachusetts General Hospital, linked the government’s actions to a broader ideological agenda.

“I think Trump has decided to declare an ideological war on anything progressive in the United States,” he stated. Drawing a grim historical parallel, Iliopoulos remarked, “Unfortunately we are in an era similar to the one when the Nazis burned books in Germany.”

He accused the administration of systematically dismantling the country’s research infrastructure, noting severe budget cuts: “He has halved the money given for research, he has cut from 60% to about 15% the additional grants given for research to universities in general in America.”

The professor also pointed to a list of what he called “unacceptable and dictatorial proposals” made by the Trump administration, including installing a federal commissioner within Harvard to influence hiring decisions—demands the university rejected outright.

“This is an incomprehensible medieval concept of limiting research and the functioning of universities,” Iliopoulos continued. “We are talking about a state that produces, and that is its strength, research, new technology and discoveries… and it’s subverting and undermining that in a terrible way.”

Iliopoulos warned that the stakes are not just institutional but existential: “I personally think that what the president of the United States is threatening right now is the sovereignty of the state itself.”

Asked how he sees the conflict concluding, Iliopoulos expressed deep concern: “I don’t want to imagine the scenario in which this tactic of the government will end up prevailing. I am afraid of it,” he said. “Harvard has filed lawsuits. The judiciary may decide that all of these things are illegal. For that to lead to a positive outcome, it means that the executive, which is the government, will have to obey the judiciary.”

As the legal battle unfolds, it remains unclear whether the Trump administration will comply with judicial rulings. When asked about constitutional limits during a CNN interview, President Trump stated, “I’m not sure I’m bound by the Constitution of the United States.”

“This is the same President who three months ago swore that his role is to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States,” Iliopoulos noted. “We are in a very defining battle right now in the United States over whether or not to maintain its character as a democratic nation.”