ELIAMEP

Research Fellow of  ELIAMEP Dr Filippa Chatzistavrou analysed the referendum on RTBF. The article was published on 7 July 2015 and is available here.

President of ELIAMEP, Professor Loukas Tsoukalis gave an interview to Fileleftheros discussing the referendum in Greece and the evolution of the crisis. The interview is available here (in Greek).

You can read here comments given by Director General of ELIAMEP in Der Spiegel  on the relation between politics and armed forces in Greece. The article was published on 2 July 2015.

In the run up to the January 2015 elections, the South-East Europe Programme of ELIAMEP undertook an ambitious two part research study in an effort to analyse and document the regional response to and expectations of the new, SYRIZA-led Greek government. Conscious of this crucial moment, the team undertook a monitoring project of local language media in the Western Balkans, while sending out in parallel an online survey to Balkan opinion makers. The media monitoring report revealed that the elections received significant and widespread media coverage across the region, with SYRIZA and its leader Alexis Tsipras at the centre of much of the discussion. Though coverage was often measured, the study revealed cautious optimism about SYRIZA’s potential to enact positive change in the region, which the opinion maker survey confirmed. On the other hand, however, respondents were apprehensive about the influence of Independent Greeks, SYRIZA’s populist rightwing coalition partner, and also noted that domestic issues were likely to limit the new government’s regional engagement.

The report is available here

Given the complex relations between Greece and Kosovo, the Athens-based South-East Europe Programme of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) and the Pristina-based Gani Bobi Center jointly implemented the research project “Building new bridges in the Balkans: Understanding misconceptions between Greece and Kosovo”, which was funded by the Kosovo Foundation for Open Society (KFOS). The study is available here.

The Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP), the European Commission’s Directorate-General for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations and the Greek International Business Association have the pleasure to organize an evening session on “Greece and it’s neighbouring countries – Strengthening economic dimensions in cross-border collaborations” to be held on Monday, 29 June 2015, 18.00-20.30, at Electra Palace in Thessaloniki.

 The event will explore the impacts of the EU’s Cross-border Pre-accession Assistance projects between Greece and its neighbours and will evaluate the experience gained by their implementation. The focus for the ensuing discussion will be to address the contemporary issues surrounding regional co-operation, paying attention to the economic dimension of the cooperation between Greece and Western Balkans.

Participants are also cordially invited to join the speakers for a networking cocktail reception at the conclusion of the event.

The discussion will be held in Greek and in English, with simultaneous interpretation.

You can find the programme here. 

The number of participants is limited. To register, please send an email to activities@eliamep.gr by Friday, 26 June 2015. 

For further information, you are kindly requested to contact Ms Anastasia Chatzopoulou, ELIAMEP (Tel.: 210 7257124, Email: activities@eliamep.gr) or Ms May Demertzi (Tel.: 2310 535 333, Email: info@seve.gr)

You can read here the article on the importance of the decision of the Greek government, which was written by Director General of ELIAMEP Dr Thanos Dokos. This commentary was published in the Greek daily Kathimerini on 17 June 2015.

Grexit would have profound (although not equally distributed) geopolitical consequences for all sides involved. Even if Greece were to leave the eurozone but remain in the EU, the country’s contribution to various common endeavors would be quite limited, at best.

First, Greece has one of the EU’s most sensitive external borders in the context of immigration. Effective border management would be beyond the capabilities of a bankrupt country.

Second, a healthy Greece, either as a party to a dispute or as a balancing actor between Albanian and Slavic populations in the Western Balkans, can play an important stabilizing role in the region.

Third, further reduction of defense expenditures and military capabilities would negatively affect Greece’s participation in NATO and EU missions.

Fourth, Greece’s privileged relationship—of varying degrees—with Israel, the Arab world, Iran, Russia, and China could allow it to play the role of an additional Western bridge in turbulent regions.And finally, an ostracized Greece would be vulnerable to non-Western great-power penetration.

So a new Greece could certainly be a valuable partner for the EU, as well as for the United States and NATO, in regions of critical importance for European and transatlantic security and interests. Greek political leaders should step up to the challenge and take advantage of the country’s opportunities.

This article was published on Carnegie Europe.

President of ELIAMEP, Professor Loukas Tsoukalis participated as a speaker in the panel debate on ‘State of the Union’ – Is there a need for a ‘new pact’ and are we ready for it? organised by the European Policy Centre (EPC), in collaboration with leading foundations and think tanks,was held in Brussels on Wednesday, 17 June, at 11.00am. Co-panellists include Didier Reynders, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign And European Affairs of Belgium, Elmar Brok and Danuta Hübner, MEPs. You can find more information here.

ELIAMEP conference on the Balkans was covered by tovima.gr. Τhe article, which was published on 13 June 2015, is available here.

You can read here the article on the result of the Turkish election written by Research Fellow of ELIAMEP and Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science, Bilkent University, Dr. Ioannis N. Grigoriadis. This commentary was published in Kathimerini on 11 June 2015.

The conference is jointly organised by ELIAMEP and the European University Institute (EUI) and marks the completion of the IRMA project. The aim is to present the project’s findings on Greece as well as place the Greek case study in an international governance and policy context.

The conference asks three questions:

• how migrants make and change their plans and strategies for migrating despite legal restrictions at destination countries,
• which are the actors (national, local or transnational, state or non-state) that affect their decision making and actions, and how do they do it;
• why specific actors are more effective than state policies in shaping migrants plans and decisions.

The conference adopts a comparative and analytical perspective approaching these questions not only through comparing the three irregular migration systems on which the IRMA project has concentrated, but also on drawing comparisons with main destination countries outside Europe (notably Australia and the USA). The aim is to discuss critically how irregular migration is changing in the 21st century and the new governance and policy challenges this entails.

You can download the program here. The conference will take place at Aegli Zappeiou.

Official language of the conference is English. Greek interpretation will be available for both days of the conference.

The current issue of Middle East Mediterranean focuses on various aspects of safeguarding multiculturalism in the Middle East, such as the issue of Christianity in Syria and Lebanon, the multicultural example of Egypt as a case study for other societies in the region and the proposed policy that Greece, Europe and the Middle Eastern governments need to agree on and implement to make multiculturalism sustainable.

In mid-2015, a new era begins for Cyprus. Whilst the change of leadership in the Turkish Cypriot community monopolizes the news bulletins, the negotiations for the final solution of the Cyprus problem starts again from the point, at which they were suspended last year. With the control of the tension in the territorial waters of Cyprus, the page break in the modern Turkish history and the resumption of talks, a new period begins for the Cyprus issue. At the beginning of this new period, this study raises an important question: Are there adequate conditions for a rapprochement between Greece and Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean? Putting on the table a series of “promising” positive developments, but at the same time focusing on the large gap, which separates the two sides, this study aims to come to a conclusion, regarding the heart of the Cyprus Problem and the Greek-Turkish relations.

Working Paper 65/2015: A new opportunity for solving the Cyprus Question

Author: Dr Nikos Stelgias

The Lisbon Treaty introduced major reforms regarding, inter alia, the external representation of the European Union. As a consequence, the role of the rotating Council presidency has been downgraded, making way for the central EU bureaucracy to represent the EU in the international arena. Yet, as far as its parliamentary dimension is concerned, there appears to be an important post-Lisbon paradox: the role of the rotating presidency is enhanced. This is due, in part to the increased role of national parliaments and of the European Parliament post-Lisbon, and in part, to the role that each parliament of the country holding the Presidency decides to adopt. On that respect, during the Greek EU Council presidency, the Greek Parliament undertook an active role making use of the powers conferred to it by the treaties. The current analysis focuses on the Inter-Parliamentary Conference on CFSP/CSDP during the Greek presidency.

Working Paper 66/2015: The parliamentary dimension of EU external affairs during the 2014 Greek Presidency

Authors: Dr Stelios Stavridis and Dr Maria Gianniou

Dr Eleni Panagiotarea wrote an article in the Sunday edition of Kathimerini discussing the evolution of the Greek crisis. The article was published on 7 June 2015 and is available here.

You can read here the article on the dilemma of the Greek Prime Minister which was written by Professor George Pagoulatos. The commentary was published on 7 June 2015 in the Sunday edition of Kathimerini and is available in Greek.

Research Fellow of  ELIAMEP Dr Filippa Chatzistavrou was interviewed by La Tercera newspaper of Chile on negotiations between the Greek government and its creditors. This interview was published on 6 June 2015 and is available here.

The purpose of this glossary is to contribute to the public debate on immigration by clarifying some basic concepts and terms that are widely used in Greece. The research team proceeded to the interpretation of specific concepts on the basis of the legislative framework and the wider socio-political background on which they are developed and used. The migration glossary is addressed to institutions, journalists and organisations involved in migration issues as well as the wider public.

Working Paper 64/2015: ELIAMEP glossary on migration (in Greek)

You can read here the article on recent tensions in the Balkans, which was written by Director General of ELIAMEP Dr Thanos Dokos. This commentary was published in the Greek daily Kathimerini on 4 June 2015.