ELIAMEP

Director General of ELIAMEP Dr Thanos Dokos participated as speaker at the Athens Energy Forum 2016 which took place at Grande Bretagne Hotel on 2 and 3 February 2016. Dr Dokos spoke on geopolitical developments in the Middle East and the Mediterranean. You can find here more information.

The Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) and the European Stability Initiative (ESI) organised on February 2nd 2016 a roundtable discussion with Mr. Gerald Knaus, Chairman, ESI on the theme of “The Syrian Refugee Crisis – A proposal for a Rational Approach”.

The discussion was held at ELIAMEP’s offices with the participation of researchers, technocrats and journalists.

The report is available here.

Dr Eleni Panagiotarea wrote an article in Kathimerini discussing the status of the Greek economy. The article was published on 2 February 2016 and is available here.

Postdoctoral Fellow of ELIAMEP Dr Dimitris Skleparis analysed the refugee crisis in Journal du Dimanche. The article was published on 31 January 2016 and is available here.

In ELIAMEP Briefing Note 43/2016 Mr Eleftherios Mastrotheodoros deals with the crisis in Yemen and the rol of the West. You can find here more information on the Middle East Research Project of ELIAMEP.

The content is available in Greek.

Associate Professor  at the University of Athens and  Senior Research Fellow at ELIAMEP Dimitri A. Sotiropoulos wrote an article on liberal democracy in the Sunday edition of To Vima newspaper. The article was published on 31 January 2016 and is available here (in Greek).

Postdoctoral Fellow of ELIAMEP Dr Dimitris Skleparis spoke on Mediapart on Greece and the Schengen Area. The article was published on 26 January 2016 and is available here.

The content is available in Greek.

You can read here the article on Greece and the challenge of migration, which was written by Director General of ELIAMEP Dr Thanos Dokos. This commentary was published in the Greek daily Kathimerini on 26 January 2016.

Dr Eleni Panagiotarea wrote an article in Kathimerini discussing the Greek economic policy. The article was published on 12 January 2016 and is available here .

The Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) and the Embassy of Japan in Greece would like to cordially invite you to a public event on the theme of: “Maritime Security – Difference between Europe and Asia”.

Welcoming Remarks:
H.E Amb. Masuo Nishibayashi, Embassy of Japan, Athens

Speaker:
Prof. Satoshi Morimoto, National Security and Defense Policy Specialist & former Minister of Defense, Tokyo

Chair:
Dr. Thanos Dokos, Director General, ELIAMEP, Athens

The event will be held in English, on Friday 15 January 2016, at 11:00, at the Basil and Marina Theocharakis Foundation for the Fine Arts and Music (9, Vassilissis Sofias Avenue & 1, Merlin Street, 106 71 Athens).

You are kindly requested to confirm your participation to Ms. Anastasia Chatzopoulou by 13 January 2016 (Tel. 2107257124, E-mail:activities@eliamep.gr).

The content is available in Greek.

You can read here the article on perspectives for Greek foreign policy in 2016, which was written by Director General of ELIAMEP Dr Thanos Dokos. This commentary was published in the Greek daily Kathimerini on 2 January 2016.

Research Fellow of  ELIAMEP Dr Filippa Chatzistavrou discussed  the Greek crisis and the role of the EU in an interview with RTBF. The interview is available here.

In ELIAMEP Working Paper 69/2015 Research Associate of Migration Programme Ms Eleni Zervos analyses sex trafficking in Greece. In particular, she focuses on structural barriers and vulnerability victims face in seeking protection.

Since the early 2000s in Western Balkans (WBs) powerful groups have misused democracy in numerous ways. Governing elites have tolerated the capture of public policy sectors by business conglomerates and have also invited in selected businessmen to capture such sectors.  Elites have adapted to inherited frail institutions and have created other deficient institutions to serve their changing strategies. To a lesser extent, the same holds for policy capture by relatively privileged occupational groups of insiders, who are less powerful than elites. On their way up to enrichment and reproduction of relatively privileged status, elites and privileged occupational groups have not encountered the obstacles usually found in other European democracies, such as a relatively strong parliament, judiciary, civil society, mass media and a public bureaucracy functioning with a minimum of autonomy from the government. Policy capture would have been impossible without first achieving and consolidating the supremacy of the government over the legislature and the judiciary. This vital for contemporary democracies balance of powers has been destroyed in WBs to an extent larger than in other European democracies. It will not be rectified, as long as civil society and parliamentary opposition remain weak, while media pluralism is restricted in WB democracies.

Working Paper 70/2015: An Inventory of Misuses of Democracy in Western Balkans

Author: Dimitri A. Sotiropoulos

More than any other conflicts globally that of Palestine-Israel remains an enigmatic riddle waiting to be deciphered. After more than seven decades of constant regional instability and many efforts to reach a consensus, few things have changed today. This period has been one of the most fruitful in the diplomatic history of the conflict. It is perhaps the most productive one after the Oslo Accords (1993). As a result of the upgrade of the representation of Palestine to a non-member observer State in UN in November 2012 and the subsequent change of the mission title from “Palestine (represented by PLO)” to State of Palestine, in 2014 there was an intensive political effort by the international community to take the initiative and create the suitable political framework that could revive negotiations and lead to a permanent and viable solution to the conflict.

Cooperation between Greece and Palestine is much needed both in regard to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and in areas of mutual interest. Greek-Palestinian relations are of particular importance for geopolitical stability in the Eastern Mediterranean involving a series of issues including that of Cyprus. Increased cooperation between Palestine and Greece is a positive factor for enhancing geopolitical stability in the region. As a result of bilateral contact and cooperation both countries can be benefited mutually, both in resolving critical issues related to geopolitical stability and security and the geopolitical configuration of a secure environment conducive to the economic development of these areas.

Description: The Palestine News Forum is an online news platform and part of the ELIAMEP Middle East Research Project, focusing on political, economic and cultural news and developments regarding Palestine and Palestinian-Greek relations. These topics aim to provide the reader with an update as a means of shedding more light to this riddle which has a strong impact on future regional developments.

Week period 1

The unanimous decision of the plenary committee of the Greek Parliament that urges the Greek government to recognise the Palestinian State in conjunction with the visit of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Athens on 20-22 / 12/2015  are developments of particular importance both for bilateral Greek-Palestinian relations and the Palestinian Question. It reiterates the historical friendship of the two peoples and takes place in a period of geopolitical instability and change of balance of power in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. Additionally this initiative, which was launched during the presidency of Zoe Konstantopoulou, reflects indirectly the intentions of the Greek foreign policy on the Palestinian issue and the Arab world, boosting the image of the current Greek government in the Greek public opinion. The only imperfection in this initiative of the Greek parliament was the fact that President Abbas spoke at the Senate Hall and not the Plenary Hall.

Just a year ago (12.14.2014, Daily) we wrote about the prospect of an initiative of the Greek Parliament to proceed to the direction of recognising the Palestinian State. The basic argument for such a development is the necessary motivation and diversity of Greek foreign policy in the Middle East with the Palestinian be a reference point in the relationship between Greece and Palestine particularly, and the Arab and Muslim world in general.

As for the decision of the Greek Government to use in the official documents of the Greek state, the term “Palestine” instead of “Palestinian Authority” is in the right direction, but it will become essential when the Greek Government applies systematically the decision of the Greek Parliament. Otherwise it will be a fleeting decision not binding for future Greek governments. Greece is one of the 57 members of a total of 193 members of the UN and one of 21 members in total 28 EU members that have not recognised the Palestinian State government. Knowing that Cyprus, with which Greece shares a common geopolitical, and not only, environment, recognised the Palestinian State in 2013, the question is why Athens is reluctant to do something similar. Obviously the politicians in Greece need to be more courageous and determined.

Currently Greece participates in two “triangles” (Greece-Cyprus-Israel and Greece-Cyprus-Egypt) which form essentially a quadrangular (Greece-Cyprus-Israel-Egypt). In this context the Greece-Cyprus-Palestine relations have their own potential regardless of whether there is in practice an independent Palestinian state. The size and importance of Palestine is not confined to the narrow context of a nation-state but is represented by the Palestinian Diaspora around the world. The power of the Diaspora is greater in the economy and culture although politically-strategically there is not yet a state-benchmark for this. The Greek political and business world needs to acknowledge the strength of the Palestinian Diaspora in order to continue the Greek-Palestinian cooperation in the future on more solid foundations. When this is understood, then we can talk about a new regional triangle, that between Greece-Cyprus-Palestine.

This article was published in Kathimerini.

You can read here the article on the challenge of migration, which was written by Director General of ELIAMEP Dr Thanos Dokos. This commentary was published in the Greek daily Kathimerini on 16 December 2015.