Dimitris Avramopoulos

Dimitris Avramopoulos
Δημήτρης Αβραμόπουλος
European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship
Assumed office
1 November 2014
President Jean-Claude Juncker
Preceded by Cecilia Malmström (Home Affairs)
Martine Reicherts (Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship)
Minister for National Defence
In office
25 June 2013 – 1 November 2014
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras
Preceded by Panos Panagiotopoulos
Succeeded by Nikolaos Dendias
In office
11 November 2011 – 17 May 2012
Prime Minister Lucas Papademos
Preceded by Panagiotis Beglitis
Succeeded by Frangoulis Frangos
Deputy Leader of New Democracy
Assumed office
2 July 2010
Leader Antonis Samaras
Preceded by Position established
Minister for Foreign Affairs
In office
21 June 2012 – 25 June 2013
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras
Preceded by Petros Molyviatis
Succeeded by Evangelos Venizelos
Minister for Health and Social Solidarity
In office
15 February 2007 – 7 October 2009
Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis
Preceded by Nikitas Kaklamanis
Succeeded by Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou
Minister for Tourism
In office
18 March 2004 – 7 October 2009
Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis
Preceded by Akis Tsochatzopoulos (Development)
Succeeded by Fani Palli-Petralia
Mayor of Athens
In office
1 January 1995 – 31 December 2002
Preceded by Leonidas Kouris
Succeeded by Dora Bakoyannis
Personal details
Born (1953-06-06) 6 June 1953
Athens, Greece
Political party New Democracy
Spouse(s) Vivian Spanoudi
Children 2
Alma mater University of Athens
Free University of Brussels (French)

Dimitris Avramopoulos (Greek: Δημήτρης Αβραμόπουλος) is a Greek politician of the conservative New Democracy party, and former career diplomat. He has served in various high-level cabinet posts, including Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for National Defence, and was Mayor of Athens in 1995–2002. Since 1 November 2014 he is serving as EU Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship in the Juncker Commission.

Personal life

Avramopoulos was born at Athens in 1953, into a family which had originally come from Ilia and Arcadia. He served his 26 months military service from 1978 to 1980 in the Hellenic Air Force.[1]

He is married to Vivian, by whom he has two sons, Filippos and Iasonas. Apart from his native Greek, he speaks English, French, and Italian fluently.

Diplomatic career

In 1980, Avramopoulos joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Athens, where he worked until 1983. From 1988 to 1992, he served as Greek Consul to Belgium in Liège. At the same time he was a Special Adviser to Konstantinos Mitsotakis, President and Leader of the New Democracy. During this time he also represented Greece in Vienna at the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe. In 1992 he became Official Spokesman of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was appointed Consul General of Greece in Geneva. In 1993 he was promoted as Director of the Prime Minister of Greece's Diplomatic Office.[2]

Political career

Dimitri Avramopoulos, Foreign Minister of Greece, with President Obama and the First Lady, at the 67th UN General Assembly in 2012

Mayor of Athens

In 1993, Avramopoulos resigned from Greek diplomatic service to enter parliamentary politics as a member of New Democracy and was elected a member of its Central Committee. From 1993 to 1994 he served as a Member of the Hellenic Parliament. In 1994 he was elected Mayor of Athens, and was re-elected in October 1998 in a historical first-round landslide victory. From 1995 to 1999 he served as Chairman of the Central Union of Local Authorities of Greece.

In 1995 he founded the “Permanent Conference of the Mayors of the Capitals of South-East Europe” and served as its first President. From 1996 to 2000 he served as Vice-President of the Executive Committee of the International Union of Local Authorities (IULA) and from 1997 to 2002, as a member of the Committee of the Regions of the European Union. Elected as President of the Summit Conference of the Mayors of the World in 2000, he served until 2002, during which time he founded the "World Union of Olympic Cities", "Athens’ International Prize for Democracy", and “World Institute of Global and Cities’ Diplomacy”, Rome.

Ministerial posts

In March 2001, he split from New Democracy with his Movement of Free Citizens (KEP), but in a surprising move merged back in June 2002. When in 2004 New Democracy won the parliamentary elections, Avramopoulos was appointed Minister of Tourism, serving until 2006, and afterwards, from 2006 until 2009, as Minister of Health and Social Solidarity.[3]

In the October 2009 election, Avramopoulos was re-elected to the Hellenic Parliament representing the constituency of Athens A. After the election of Antonis Samaras to the “New Democracy” Party Presidency he was appointed President of the Organizing Committee of the 8th Party Congress held at Athens in June 2010. In July 2010, he became Vice-President of “New Democracy”, serving until 1 November 2014.

On November 11, 2011 he was appointed Minister for National Defence in the coalition government of Lucas Papademos, resigning from his parliamentary seat, thus adhering to the New Democracy policy that no serving Opposition Party Deputies may hold ministerial office.

At the May 6, 2012 election, Avramopoulos was returned as Deputy for Athens A, being re-elected in the June 17, 2012 general election. On June 21, 2012 he was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs. After the Cabinet reshuffle of June 25, 2013, he became Greek Minister for Defence again, serving until his nomination as Greece's European Commissioner in November 2014.

European Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs

On 27 July 2014, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras nominated Avramopoulos as Greece's next member of the European Commission.[4] Before the nomination, Dora Bakoyiannis was widely seen to be a strong contender for the Commission post.[5] Samaras also defied calls from the centre-left Pasok party for Maria Damanaki to continue as European Commissioner.[6]

Jean-Claude Juncker then nominated Avramopoulos as European Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs. In this capacity, Avramopoulos shares competency over cyber-security matters with Günther Oettinger.[7]

In the aftermath of the victory of the left-wing SYRIZA party in the 25 January election in 2015, Avramopoulos' name was widely circulated in Greek media as the most likely choice for SYRIZA's candidate in the second round of the election for the Presidency of Greece. According to the Greek media reports, the nomination would be seen both as a gesture of conciliation with the right, but would crucially also enable SYRIZA to nominate its own European Commissioner.[8] On 30 January Samaras phoned Avramopoulos and assured him that New Democracy would support his eventual nomination.[9]

Other positions

From the outset of his political career, Avramopoulos served for twenty years as Honorary President of the Athens’ International Prize for Democracy for UNESCO in Paris (until 2013). He has also been Chairman of the Steering Committee on Cities´ Diplomacy, established by the Global Forum (Rome) and the World Bank Institute (Washington D.C.). He was elected President of the “World Institute of Global and Cities’ Diplomacy”, an independent NGO based in Rome as well as Executive President of the “World Union of Olympic Cities”, an Olympic Games NGO.

Greek-Turkish rapprochement

Avramopoulos has a friendly relation with the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan since they were Mayors of Athens and Istanbul respectively.[10] He is deemed one of the main proponents of Greek-Turkish rapprochement.

Academic degrees

Avramopoulos read Public Law and Political Science at Athens University Law School, graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Arts (BA). He then undertook postgraduate studies receiving a Specialization Diploma in International Organisation at Boston University, and later a Master's degree in European Studies at the Institute of European Affairs, Université libre de Bruxelles. He has been conferred honorary doctorates by Adelphi University (Long Island, New York), Deree College (Athens), Drexel University (Philadelphia), Kingston University (London), European College of Parma (Italy)[11] and has been elected Honorary Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences and of Peking University (Beijing).

Honours

Avramopoulos has received numerous honors from European States as well as many countries around the world for his diplomatic, public and charitable service:

And, from the Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Patriarchate of Alexandria:

Distinctions and awards

Avramopoulos received, in 2006, the “Vincitore Assoluto” Award of the Premio Internazionale “Giuseppe Sciacca”, and has been presented with distinctions by many foreign Cities and Municipalities: Famagusta, Barcelona, Beijing, Beirut, Berlin, Boston, Brooklyn N.Y., Bucharest, Caracas, Chicago, Florence, Genoa, Jakarta, Havana, Istanbul, Kiev, Krotone, Ljubljana, Los Angeles, Miami -Florida, Massachusetts, Montreal, Moscow, New Jersey, New York, Nicosia, Paris, Philadelphia, Providence, Rhode Island, Rome, Sofia, State of Illinois, Sydney, Tbilisi, Tirana, Toronto, Valletta, Washington D.C., Xian, Yerevan. He has been honoured with the Honorary Freedom of 40 Greek and foreign cities.

References

  1. ↑ https://avramopoulos.gr/en/curriculum_vitae_avramopoulos
  2. ↑ Dimitris Avramopoulos
  3. ↑ Capital Link Forum | Greece In A New Era, Business & Investment Opportunities & the Development of Southeastern Europe
  4. ↑ Toby Vogel (July 28, 2014), Greece nominates Avramopoulos as European commissioner European Voice.
  5. ↑ Toby Vogel (July 28, 2014), Greece nominates Avramopoulos as European commissioner European Voice.
  6. ↑ Toby Vogel (July 28, 2014), Greece nominates Avramopoulos as European commissioner European Voice.
  7. ↑ Nicholas Hirst (December 11, 2014), Who’s who in the digital world European Voice.
  8. ↑ "Επιμένουν τα σενάρια για υποψηφιότητα Αβραμόπουλου για την Προεδρία" (in Greek). in.gr. 26 January 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  9. ↑ "Κίνηση αποφυγής "γαλάζιου" διχασμού η στήριξη Αβραμόπουλου για την Προεδρία" (in Greek). in.gr. 29 January 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  10. ↑ Greek FM Turkish PM’s friend Hürriyet, 23 June 2012.
  11. ↑ Dimitris Avramopoulos: Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship
  12. ↑ Holy Sepulchre
  13. ↑ Apostle and Evangelist Mark
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dimitris Avramopoulos.
Political offices
Preceded by
Leonidas Kouris		 Mayor of Athens
1995–2002 		Succeeded by
Dora Bakoyannis
Preceded by
Akis Tsochatzopoulos
as Minister for Development		 Minister for Tourism
2004–2007 		Succeeded by
Fani Palli-Petralia
Preceded by
Nikitas Kaklamanis		 Minister for Health and Social Solidarity
2007–2009 		Succeeded by
Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou
Preceded by
Panagiotis Beglitis		 Minister for National Defence
2011–2012 		Succeeded by
Frangoulis Frangos
Preceded by
Petros Molyviatis		 Minister for Foreign Affairs
2012–2013 		Succeeded by
Evangelos Venizelos
Preceded by
Panos Panagiotopoulos		 Minister for National Defence
2013–2014 		Succeeded by
Nikolaos Dendias
Preceded by
Maria Damanaki		 Greek European Commissioner
2014–present 		Incumbent
Preceded by
Cecilia Malmström
as European Commissioner for Home Affairs		 European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship
2014–present
Preceded by
Martine Reicherts
as European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship
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