Getting to Know the European Union: Greece

Hosted by The Institute for Human Sciences at Boston University

The final lecture in the six-part series Getting to Know the European Union: Member States in Focus presents Alexandros Mallias, Greece’s ambassador to the United States, and is moderated by Alan Berger, senior editorial writer at the Boston Globe. The series, organized by the Institute for Human Sciences at Boston University and funded by the European Union Delegation of the European Commission to the USA in Washington, D.C., addresses the European Union and its politics and institutions as they function on an individual country level.

Mallias says that he would not describe Greece’s inception into the European Union as smooth, but believes that it was a “golden opportunity” the country has seized over the past quarter-century, with great results. He talks about the difficult times the country went through after World War II — the war itself, occupation by three countries, and then civil war, contrasting them with the recent economic and political achievements of what he refers to as the European Union’s greatest success story.

“Greece is an economic miracle,” he says, citing his country’s 4.1 percent GDP growth this year as the highest in the euro zone, and a reduction in the country’s deficit from 7.8 percent in 2004 to 2.8 percent in 2007.

Mallias also says that the 2004 Olympics in Athens played a huge role in “rebranding Greece’s name” by showing the world that the country could handle the modern Olympics and could deliver what it promised. Politically, he cites the European Union Council of June 2003 as a landmark victory, when EU leaders declared on a consensual basis that the Balkans were a part of Europe. “Geographically speaking, we knew that already,” he says. “But politically, this is the first time every single Balkan state has been declared a candidate.” Greece is considered a “soft power” country in the region, exerting influence on its Balkan neighbors. Partnerships with Turkey and Italy are flourishing, and Greece is preeminent in shipping worldwide. According to the ambassador, 60 percent of China’s imports come in on Greek ships. He also mentions immigration as a huge problem for both the United States and Europe. But Greece’s population has increased 10 percent in 10 years, mostly from neighboring countries, which he calls a tremendous asset to the country.

The ambassador then fields questions on a variety of topics, including green energy usage, immigration, Kosovo, and post-euro consumption patterns.

December 3, 2007, 6 p.m.
Photonics Center

Video length is 01:13:05.

About the speaker:
Alexandros P. Mallias became Greece’s ambassador to the United States in October 2005. He joined the Greek Foreign Service in 1976 and has been at the forefront of Greece’s stabilizing role in the Balkans, serving as director of the Southeastern Europe (Balkan Affairs) Department at the Foreign Ministry in Athens in various capacities, ambassador to Albania, head of the first Mission in FYROM (Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia), and head of the European Community Monitor Mission Regional Office in Sofia. He also served in Libya and at the Greek Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, as first counselor for political affairs.

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