ELIAMEP

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.

President of ELIAMEP, Professor Loukas Tsoukalis will be the Pierre Keller Visiting Professor at Harvard University for the Spring Semester 2016. He will teach a graduate course on ‘The Political Economy of European Integration in Crisis’ at the Harvard Kennedy School.

You can find here more information.

Europe is imbued with a multitude of social, cultural, economic and political meanings. In their new book Professor Anna Triandafyllidou and Dr Ruby Gropas show that there can be no single definition of Europe but that a lot can be learned from addressing its diverse meanings.

In particular, the authors of this comprehensive text present an authoritative yet accessible introduction to understanding Europe today, moving beyond accounts of European integration to provide a holistic and nuanced study of contemporary Europe and its historical development.

This book explores evolving definitions of Europe from antiquity, to the Cold War, right through to Europe in the midst of the Eurozone and global financial crises. By examining the different roles and meanings that Europe has held inside and outside of the continent, including the European Union’s ‘branding’ of Europe, the text grounds its analysis in an understanding of Europes plural.  Chapters explore concepts of Europe as civilization, Europe as progress, Europe as unity and Europe as diversity.

How do Europeans think of themselves and their respective national identities in a multicultural and multi-ethnic age? How has modernity and the pre- and post-industrial values of Europe affected the Europe of now and what are the political legacies of Europe?  To what extent are notions of social solidarity shared across the continent? This is the first text to systematically answer these questions, and other, in order to better determine ‘what is Europe?’

You can find here more information on the book ‘What is Europe’ published by Palgrave Macmillan.

You can also read here a sample chapter.

On Tuesday 8 December 2015 the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) and the Embassy of Israel in Athens organised a discussion on the theme of ‘Developments in Iran: Israeli and European Perspectives‘. The main speaker was Dr Raz Zimmt, Expert on Iran and Research Fellow at the Alliance Center for Iranian Studies at Tel-Aviv University. His talk was followed by comments made by Dr Charalampos Tsardanidis, Director of the Institute of International Economic Relations; Associate Professor, University of the Aegean. Dr Thanos Dokos, Director General of ELIAMEP moderated the discussion.

The event took place at the Representation of European Commission in Greece.

Research Fellow of ELIAMEP Dr Angeliki Dimitriadi gave an interview in the Sunday edition of To Vima newspaper analysing whether Turkey could efficiently co-operate with the EU on the refugee crisis . The article was published on 6 December 2015 and is available here.

The 3rd Annual Conference of the Crisis Observatory will take place on Wednesday, 16 December 2015 (12:00-18:45), at the French Institute of Greece (31 Sina, Athens), on:

“Economic Governance and Democratic Legitimacy in the European Union”

In the first part of the conference (12:00-16:00), eight papers that were distinguished in the Young Scientists Academic Paper Competition of the Crisis Observatory will be presented.

In the second part of the conference, a roundtable discussion on “Economic Governance in the EU: Challenges and Perspectives” (16:30-18:30) will take place. The participants will be:

• Iain Begg (Professorial Research Fellow, European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science)
• Zsolt Darvas (Senior Fellow, Bruegel)
• Stefano Micossi (Director General, ASSONIME, Professor, College of Europe)
• Nikos Christodoulakis (Former Minister, Professor, Athens University of Economics and Business)

At the closing of the conference, the authors of the four best papers that took part in the Young Scientists Academic Paper Competition of the Crisis Observatory will be awarded monetary prizes (18:30-18:45).

The conference will be held in Greek with simultaneous interpretation in English.

Certificates of attendance will be provided.

The programme of the conference is available here.

You can confirm your participation here by 13/12/2015. Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

For more information: tel.210-7257110, e-mail: crisisobservatory@eliamep.gr.

The Annual Lecture of ELIAMEP will follow the conference. It will be delivered by Martin Wolf, the principal economic columnist of the Financial Times and internationally acclaimed author. Register for ELIAMEP’s Annual Lecture here.

Das Progressive Zentrum organised  a debate to launch its new project ‘Civil Society Dialogue on Europe ‘ in Athens on Monday 7 December 2015.  The Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) contributed to this event.  President of ELIAMEP, Professor Loukas Tsoukalis made the introductory remarks and focused on the importance of fostering dialogue. In addition, Research Fellow Dr Eleni Panagiotarea presented the conclusions of the workshop on sustainable growth and Associate Professor of the University of Athens Dimitri A. Sotriopoulos participated in another workshop on euroscepticism proposing measures against the rise of populism.

ELIAMEP provides the channel for recruiting Greek students for the Master’s Programme at the College of Europe through the Greek Selection Committee for the College of Europe, which operates on the ELIAMEP premises. The College of Europe is a centre of academic excellence, with fιve programmes, leading to a Master’s degree. It operates in two campuses, in Bruges (Belgium) and Natolin (Poland). The five one-year programmes are: Politics and Administration, Law, Economics as well as EU International Relations and Diplomacy in Bruges, and the “European Interdisciplinary Studies: The Internal and External Dimensions of the EU” programme in Natolin.

Applying: The requirements for admission are a relevant University degree of good standard and working knowledge (writing and speaking) of English and French.

Closing date for applications is January 20th, 2016. Interviews for short-listed candidates take place in April / May in Athens by the Greek Selection Committee. Application files should include the documents (in English or in French) listed below:

1. The Application Form of the College of Europe.

2. a CV indicating the totality of your studies as well as the grades obtained.

3. a certified copy of your degree(s) (if you are not yet in possession of your final degree, please send it as soon as it is available).

4. a transcript from your University, Faculty, School, detailing results for every year of your studies and grades obtained.

5. 2 letters of recommendation from two of your university professors.

No other documents are required. Please note that applications which are not complete, especially with respect to the certificates detailing the results of your studies and the marks obtained cannot be taken into consideration. Please also note that the Master’s Degrees awarded from the College of Europe are now recognized from the National Academic Recognition Information Center (NARIC).

Applications should be sent electronically to the College of Europe and in hardcopies to ELIAMEP, at the following address:

ELIAMEP, College of Europe, 49, Vas Sofias Ave, 106 76 Athens Greece

Applications need to be sent both electronically for the College and in hardcopy for the Greek Selection Committee in order to be considered as eligible.

For further information and a brochure, do not hesitate to contact Ms. Matina Meintani, tel: +30 210 360 7611.

You can read here the article on the day after the downing of the Russian plane, which was written by Director General of ELIAMEP Dr Thanos Dokos. This commentary was published in the Greek daily Kathimerini on 3 December  2015.

You can read here the article on relations between the European Union and Turkey, which was written by Director General of ELIAMEP Dr Thanos Dokos. This commentary was published on the website News 247  on 2 December 2015.

European leaders have made a series of high-level visits to Turkey’s imposing presidential palace and issued statements strongly emphasizing Turkey’s role and Europe’s own inability to manage the refugee crisis. Such moves, in combination with the victory of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Turkey’s November 1 parliamentary election, have succeeded in boosting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s self-perception of grandeur.

There is little doubt that Turkey has borne a substantial burden in the Syrian refugee crisis and should be supported financially, together with Lebanon and Jordan. But the agreement reached by the EU and Turkey at a summit on November 29 makes no specific reference to access to the labor market or to primary and secondary education, which would make staying in Turkey more attractive for Syrian refugees. Nor does the agreement mention the creation of hot spots on Turkish territory or a readmission process for economic migrants.

The result will be much less progress in dealing with the refugee crisis than hoped or expected. Only the end of the Syrian conflict with a political solution involving Russia and moderate elements of the current Syrian regime will relieve the refugee pressure on Europe.

Furthermore, neither side has any illusions about real progress on Turkey’s EU accession negotiations. In view of recent developments regarding the rule of law and human rights in Turkey, the best both sides should aim for is closer cooperation on foreign and security policy—and then only if there is a clearer convergence between the two sides’ objectives.

This article was published on Carnegie Europe website.

Local government authorities have a crucial role to play in pursuing immigrant integration and in managing multi-ethnic diversity. Their involvement in this policy area has rapidly grown in many European countries. In Greece, however, the extent and nature of local government interventions in this policy area have not been yet explored. This is a major gap both in academic research and policy-relevant knowledge concerning the prospects and conditions under which the integration of migrants in the Greek society can be better achieved. Towards filling this gap, the purpose of the project LOMIGRAS is twofold: (a) to investigate the local government’s involvement in the process of migrants’ integration and the extent to which it promotes, or conversely hinders their integration, and (b) to develop a usable interactive tool to monitor and assess the effects of local government in promoting migrant integration. The starting assumption of this research is that local government institutions have a profound role in promoting, or conversely hindering, immigrants’ integration, regardless of whether they explicitly assigned competences in this area.

You can find more information here.

Local government authorities have a crucial role to play in pursuing immigrant integration and in managing multi-ethnic diversity. Their involvement in this policy area has rapidly grown in many European countries. In Greece, however, the extent and nature of local government interventions in this policy area have not been yet explored. This is a major gap both in academic research and policy-relevant knowledge concerning the prospects and conditions under which the integration of migrants in the Greek society can be better achieved. Towards filling this gap, the purpose of the project LOMIGRAS is twofold: (a) to investigate the local government’s involvement in the process of migrants’ integration and the extent to which it promotes, or conversely hinders their integration, and (b) to develop a usable interactive tool to monitor and assess the effects of local government in promoting migrant integration. The starting assumption of this research is that local government institutions have a profound role in promoting, or conversely hindering, immigrants’ integration, regardless of whether they explicitly assigned competences in this area.

Based on the knowledge generated from the first research phase, the proposed project will develop a methodology and associated monitoring tool to support effective local immigrant integration in the four largest cities of Greece. Despite the fact that the EU Common Basic Principles have recognized the importance of monitoring and assessment mechanisms, a comprehensive methodology and monitoring tool for effective migrant integration at the local level has yet to be developed. The LOMIGRAS project shall for the first time establish such a tool. Specifically, the project will (a) develop a set of criteria and indicators to measure migrant integration at the local level, and (b) design a technological tool that allows stakeholders, such as local government authorities, other public agencies, and non-government organizations to apply and use this methodology in order to assess migrant integration outcomes. Overall, the project shall make an important contribution to academic research and policy-relevant knowledge both in Greece as well as other EU countries.

In sum, the project LOMIGRAS has the following objectives:

(1)               To explore the extent to which local government policies and measures mainstream integration principles, and assess their effectiveness in promoting the integration of migrant groups in Greece’s four largest cities: Athens, Thessaloniki, Herakleio and Patras.

(2)               To develop a methodology on the basis of which to monitor and assess the integration of immigrants in five policy areas in which local government in involved and/or has competences: employment, social inclusion, education, combatting discrimination, and civic participation.

(3)               To create a technological interactive tool that embeds this methodology and criteria for monitoring and assessing local migrant integration.

(4)               To present and disseminate the integration monitoring tool to local government authorities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and other stakeholders, thereby raising awareness for the need to explicitly introduce integration objectives in the horizontal formulation and implementation of general local government policies, and

(5)               To formulate recommendations and best practices for promoting local integration policy management of migrant groups across Greece.

The research program is implemented in 2015-2016, and it is funded by the “Diversity, inequalities and social inclusion” program of the EEA Financial Mechanism 2009-2014 operated by the General Secretariat for Research and Technology of Greece.

For more information, you can contact:

Professor Dia Anagnostou:  anagnostou.eliamep@gmail.com

Dr. Eda Gemi: eda@eliamep.gr

The Embassies of the Association of South East Asia Nations (ASEAN) in Athens and the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) organized a seminar on ‘Security Issues in Europe’s Southern Neighborhood and in Southeast Asia: A Comparative Analysis’ on Monday, 30 November 2015, 10.00-13.00, at Divani Caravel hotel.

The programme is avalaible here.

President of ELIAMEP, Professor Loukas Tsoukalis will participate in a conferece to be organised in Rome on 13-14 November 2015 for the 50th Anniversary of the Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI). He will speak in the first session on ‘Governing Europe: the Challenges of Differentiated Integration’. The programme of the event is available here.

In a CEPS paper Dr Filippa Chatzistavrou and Ms Sofia Michalaki analyse the European dimension of the Greek crisis during the SYRIZA-Independent Greeks administration. Their paper entitled ‘Greece as an example of “post-politics” in the eurozone’ is available here.

The Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy – ELIAMEP is seeking a researcher-IT expert for a 5-month position (February – June 2016). The job position is part of the Research Programme LOMIGRAS: “Mainstreaming and Monitoring Immigrants’ Integration in Local Government in Greece”, which is funded by the General Secretariat for Research and Technology of Greece through the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism (EEA Grants).

 Qualifications, Knowledge and Experience 

• Post-graduate degree (Ph.D or MA) in computer sciences or statistics.
• Ability to use and apply social research data through the creation of relevant technological instruments
• Proven experience in the development of web-based applications.
• Proven experience in the analysis of quantitative data.
• Excellent written and oral communications skills in English and Greek.

Main duties

• Develop indicators and monitoring tool for assessing immigrant integration at the local level.
• Analysis of secondary quantitative data.
• Develop of web-based application on monitoring and assessment tool (MAT).
• Conduct pilot-testing of the web-based application of the MAT in the Municipality of Athens.
• Contribute to the report on a set of policy recommendations regarding the assessment of local integration tools and strategies at local, national and European levels.
• Programme’s website design and management
• Contribute to the organisation of three workshops in Athens and Thessaloniki and the final conference in Athens.
• Contribute to networking and disseminating research results of LOMIGRAS.

Deadline for application: 25 November 2015

Please submit your application electronically including cover letter and CV with «MIGR_11b.15″ in subject line, to migration@eliamep.gr.

The Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy – ELIAMEP will recruit a research fellow for a 5-month position (December 2016 – April 2016).

The job position is part of the Research Programme LOMIGRAS: “Mainstreaming and Monitoring Immigrants’ Integration in Local Government in Greece”, which is funded by the General Secretariat for Research and Technology of Greece through the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism (EEA Grants).

 Qualifications, Knowledge and Experience 

• Pοst-graduate degree (M.A. or Ph.D) in political or social sciences.
• Previous experience in management and coordination of research projects.
• Proven experience with empirical research on migration.
• Proven experience and record of publications in the field of migrant integration in Greece and in Europe.
• Experience in organising workshops, networking and disseminating research results.
• Excellent IT skills and use of multimedia.
• Excellent written and oral communications skills in English and Greek.

Main duties

• Assist to the project’s principal investigator with the management and coordination of the LOMIGRAS research project.
• Conduct interviews with key informants in various municipalities in Greece.
• Engage in the analysis of qualitative data of empirical research by municipality.
• Co-authoring reports on integration of migrants in local government.
• Involvement in the organisation of two workshops in Athens and Thessaloniki and the final conference in Athens.
• Contribute to networking and to the dissemination of research results of LOMIGRAS.

Deadline for application: 25 November 2015

Please submit your application electronically including cover letter and CV with «MIGR_11d.15″ in subject line, to migration@eliamep.gr.

You can read here the article analysing  Νew Democracy’s leadership race which was written by Professor George Pagoulatos. The commentary was published on 8 November 2015 in the Sunday edition of Kathimerini and is available in Greek.