Greece
This month
In this issue:
• Alexis Tsipras at “Supporting Syria and the Region” Conference • The new Hotspots in Greece • Refugee life jacket tribute in Berlin • Aggelos Chryssogelos’ speech on Europeanization, Greek Foreign Policy and Eurozone Crisis • IoT and the platform ‘Synaisthisi’ by ‘Democritos’ • An inside Perspective of the US Presidential Elections, by Chris Spirou • 2016: The Year of Yiannis Moralis
Alexis Tsipras attends the ‘Supporting Syria and the Region’ Conference (London, 4.2.2016) Due to the humanitarian crisis that unravels in Syria, billions of dollars in international aid are needed to cover the needs that arose due to the conflict and support the people caught up in it. As the Syrians conflict enters its fifth year with no political solution reached as of yet, 12.2 million people remain in dire need of assistance. Nearly half of all Syrian have been forced out of their homes – 3.8 million Syrians have fled to bordering countries such as Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt, and 7.6 million people have been internally displaced making this the largest displacement crisis in the world. The ‘Supporting Syria and the Region’ Conference, that took place in London in February 4, 2016, 1
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co-hosted by the United Kingdom, Kuwait, Norway, and the United Nations, brought together world leaders from around the globe, among them Greece as well, with one common goal: to raise £6.2bn funds in order to help millions of people whose lives have been irrevocably altered by the ongoing civil war that takes place in their homeland since 2011. And they achieved it: The Conference pledged a record $10 billion after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon laid out three main objectives: raising $7 billion in immediate humanitarian aid, mustering long-term support, and protecting civilians. ‘Never has the international community raised so much money on a single day for a single crisis,” he told a news briefing at the end of the day-long conference, co-hosted by the UN and the Governments of the United Kingdom, Kuwait, Germany and Norway. More than half of the pledged amount is earmarked to meet immediate needs in 2016 in a country where nearly five years of war has killed over 250,000 people, sent over 4 million fleeing Syria, displaced 6.5 million internally, and put 13.5 million people inside the country in urgent need of humanitarian aid. In his address during the educational pledging session of the Conference, the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras urged the international community to adopt a ‘long-term, strategic approach’’, to the still-unfolding Syrian refugee crisis, focused on ‘effective and humane management of the refugee flows’’. The Prime Minister stated that ‘The Syrian crisis has humanitarian consequences that will stay with us for decades. We cannot deal with them by building walls or pushing back people in the sea and risking deaths. We cannot push people from country to country, as if they are someone else’s responsibility’’. He also stressed the heavy burden the refugee crisis has placed on our country and called for pledges that ensure the integration of refugees in the local societies that have accepted them, while stemming the migrations flows. Greece pledged €300,000 to the UN for 2016, a symbolic sum from the Greek people that are on the frontlines of this crisis, helping in a substantial way that is deemed priceless and far surpasses the symbolic value of the sum pledged. The European Union has pledged $3.3 bn this year and intends to ‘’maintain this level of financing’’ for 2017 and beyond. The United Kingdom pledged an extra $1.7bn until 2020, Germany committed to $2.6 billion until 2018, France announced that it would give $1bn and the United States pledged an extra $925 million for 2016. Australia, Belgium, Italy, Poland, Japan, the UAE, Austria, Switzerland, Estonia, Denmark and Finland, along with the World Bank and the European Investment Bank were among those 2
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who also committed funds. “It is our collective responsibility to make today a day of hope, and to turn hope into reality. To bring peace in Syria and to rebuild the country. The European Union is ready’’, the HR/VP Federica Mogherini undelined, while the British PM David Cameron noted that ‘the conference has seen the largest amount of money ever raised in one day in response to a humanitarian crisis with well over $10bn pledged. We have secured approaching $6bn for 2016 alone, and a further $5bn over the longer term to 2020. It means millions of people will now receive life-saving food medical care and shelter in Syria and beyond’.
The ‘hotspots’ are ready to function and welcome refugees in Greece As part of the immediate action to assist frontline Member States which are facing disproportionate migratory pressures at the EU’s external borders, in the European Agenda on Migration presented in May 2015, the European Commission proposed to develop a new Hotspot approach. Greece is one of the first Member States where this Hotspot approach is currently being implemented. The European Asylum Support Office (EASO), EU Border Agency (Frontex) EU Police Cooperation Agency ropol) and EU Judicial Cooperation Agency (Frontex) EU Police Cooperation Agency (Europol) and EU Judicial Cooperation Agency (Eurojust) are already working on the ground with Greek authorities to help fulfil its obligations under EU law and identify, register and fingerprint incoming migrants. The Minister of National Defense Panos Kammenos announced last month- meeting the deadline given by the European authorities- that four of the five planned refugee and migrant registration centers are ready and they will begin to operate immediately. Mr. Kammenos further explained that the remaining fifth hot spot, which is being developed on the island of Kos, will be ready within the next few days. “It was a difficult task. We met resistance in two areas, Kos and Diavata” he commented during a press conference with the Alternate Ministers of Public Order Nikos Toskas and Migration Policy Yannis Mouzalas. Each of the facilities will have enough prefab housing to accommodate 1,000 migrants, who will spend three days being registered, having their fingerprints taken and being sorted between those eligible for asylum in the EU and economic migrants facing eventual deportation. The operational support provided under the Hotspot approach, focuses on registration, identification, fingerprinting and debriefing of asylum 3
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seekers, as well as return operations, while they offer shelter and facilities for around 1000 people/ day per hotspot. The duration of their stay is expected to be no more than 24-48 hours. Two relocation centers have also been created. The first one is located at Schisto camp outside Athens and the second one is located in military facilities in Diavata, Thessaloniki. The centers will be able to accommodate up to 4,000 people a day. The migrants and refugees will be able to stay in the accommodation centers for a maximum of 72 hours. Over 70.000 people have arrived in Greece since the beginning of the year. Greece needs the European solidarity in this respect.
‘My thoughts looking at the life-jackets of Lesvos’
(Our Intern travels to Berlin and shares her life-time experience about the refugee crisis) . By Milteva Andonellis I have always wanted to go to Germany to see the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, to try a Berliner donut and the like. So when I found an opening in my schedule I grabbed a friend and booked the first Ryan Air flight leaving that weekend. When I arrived I did all the touristy things from visiting museums to trying to order beer in German. As I was walking through a small square with wonderful architectural buildings I saw Greek-like columns that were covered in orange. My curious-self walked up to the columns and it was only then that I realized that the orange were many life-jackets. After a quick google search, I realized that I had stumbled upon the project of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. He had life-jackets shipped from the Greek island of Lesvos and wrapped them around Berlin’s Konzerthaus (Concert venue). In the middle of the columns was an inflatable boat carrying the phrase #safepassage. This site had me stopped in my tracks. I had witnessed the refugee crisis in Lesvos last summer, and I was amazed by the help the locals provided. There were many occasions when the people of Lesvos would make food for the refugees or drive them to the next check-point. Knowing that volunteers from Lesvos had helped pick up every single one of the 14,000 life vests attached to those Greek inspired columns gave me goosebumps. The people of Greece, despite going through difficult times, they never turned their backs to fellow humans. Greece has kept its borders open to refugees, has saved many in the Aegean Sea and has provided them with 4
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a safe passage to Central Europe. The people of Greece have once again shown the values of Greek courage and humanity, setting an example for the rest of the world to follow, as awaiting to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Europeanization, Greek Foreign Policy and Eurozone Crisis. (LSE, 23.2.2016) The National Bank of Greece Post-Doctoral Fellow, Mr. Aggelos Chryssogelos spoke at the LSE Hellenic Observatory (February 23), about the relations between the Greek crisis and foreign policy, a research seminar hosted and chaired by the Director of the Hellenic Observatory Dr Spyros Economides and Professor Kevin Featherstone, under the title ‘Still Europeanized? Greek Foreign Policy during the Eurozone Crisis’. In his inaugurative speech, Mr. Chryssogelos stressed that the EU is a good choice regarding foreign relations. It makes the individual states stronger because they all belong to a union. The EU advocates for values that are shared by all nation states such as human rights, pacifism and environmental consciousness. As far as Greece is concerned, it harmonized its foreign policy views with the European ones in 1999, at the Helsinki European Council meeting. When asked about the overwhelming rise of anti-EU rhetoric across Europe, Mr. Chryssogelos stated that indeed there has been a rise today in EU-sceptic parties in Europe which has caused a rift in the EU establishment, adding that ‘this is a direct repercussion from the controversial meetings about austerity and bailouts during the current crisis’. He emphasized that this strained relationship within the EU has created negative effects outside the Union as well. Countries outside the EU have started to lose faith in the bloc due to its inability to solve its internal issues. Inherently the member states have started to look outside the union for answers. ‘Tsipras visit to Moscow during the bailout renegotiation left a bad taste in the European elites mouth’, he mentioned. Mr. Chryssogelos underlined the importance of the geopolitical positioning of Greece and ‘this is something that should not be overlooked. Greece sits on the corner of three continents, Europe, Asia and Africa. There is much untapped potential in the realm. Also not to be forgotten is that Greece has been a supportive member of the European project since 1981 and has adjusted its foreign policy accordingly. 5
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The slow trend of de-Europeanization has not only strained the view of the union abroad, but within its 28 member states’. He ended his speech, giving a message: that only united can we weather the crisis that is affecting the European continent nowadays.
IoT and the platform ‘Synaisthisi’ by ‘Democritos’: The next technological revolution? Nowadays, more and more frequently we come across the concept of ‘’Internet of Things’’, otherwise IoT. A buzz phrase that encompasses the advances of the technological world as we experience today, creating a bridge between humans and the various devices, inextricably connecting ‘’things’’ previously known as plain commodities, and giving them the power to interact in various forms, with the help of build-in censors that gather data and take action on that data across a network. For example, the car we drive will be able to receive information about the existence of ice on the road and automatically adjust its speed taking into account this new factor, without its driver necessarily intervening during this process. However, the IoT is far from becoming the ‘real thing’ in the current technology landscape, especially if one considers how few people have access to the internet today. This is the research area scientists are currently working in so as to leverage the compounding capabilities of the ‘’things’’, by providing a unifying platform that will enable devices, systems, services and people inter-operate in multiple applications. In this context, a team of scientists from the renowned National Centre for Scientific Research (NCSR) ‘Demokritos’ in Athens, Greece, has launched a project offering their insight and expertise into the world of ‘’machine-to-machine’’ communication. The Institute of Informatics and Telecommunications (IIT), one of the five institutes of ‘Demokritos’, has developed the project ‘Synaisthisi’, a platform aiming to utilize the power of cloud computing, the versatility of mobile and static connected devices and the capabilities of Artificial Intelligence to ameliorate everyday life. The purpose of the ‘Synaisthisi’ project is to research and build a system that can seamlessly integrate heterogeneous sensor, processing and actuator networks and provide a flexible yet extendable service layer that can translate such networks (devices, sensors, machines, humans etc.) into reusable service components that are easily ‘’weaved’’ into applications.
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The platform created will enable businesses to augment their revenue from the development of new services and reuse of current assets, as well as make possible for applications to always follow ongoing business needs, while offering lots of benefits in the areas of energy, healthcare, transport and logistics.
‘An inside Perspective of the US Presidential Elections’, by Chris Spirou One quick glance at the news today will definitely have a section covering the United States Presidential elections which will be held on November 8th this year. However, electing a new president is not simply a matter of days or even weeks. It is a process which takes almost a whole year. The former New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Chris Spirou was invited by the MP Bob Blackman to the House of Commons to give an ‘inside perspective’ of the US elections, an event organized by the Henry Jacksons Society, on the February 25, just few days before one of the biggest nights of the US elections to have been held: the so-called ‘Super Tuesday’, where both the candidates, Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton scored sweeping victories, significantly raising the odds that the property mogul and the former secretary of state will confront each other at November’s presidential election. With a markedly different electoral system to the one here in the UK, it is unsurprising that many on this side of the Atlantic remain confused about the Presidential election process: What do the caucuses mean? How important are the primaries? Who exactly is being elected for what? As a charismatic speaker with a deep knowledge on how the American electoral system works, Mr Spirou explained thoroughly the voting procedure, how the nominees of the Democratic and Republican parties are elected through the 50 states primary elections and the importance of the role of the Electors. Mr Spirou, having played a leading role as a Chairman of New Hampshire’s Democratic Party during Bill Clinton’s office, predicted that the presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has the best chance to win the Democratic nomination. He has great faith that she will excel if she wins the Presidential election. When asked if she will be able to end the stalemate in the current Congress, Mr. Spirou seemed confident that the Democrats will retake the Senate in thenear-future elections. Other than that he said he believed Mrs. Clinton could bridge the bi-partisan gap effectively. 7
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A few words for Chris Spirou Chris Spirou was born in the town of Porti in the Prefecture of Karditsa, Province of Thessaly, Greece and migrated in 1956, at the age of 13, to the United States of America. He attended Saint Anselm’s College, Manchester, New Hampshire and holds a Master’s Degree in Urban Studies and Social Change from Goddard College, Vermont. His political career started in 1970 when he was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives. In a short time, he rose to become the House Democratic Leader in the New Hampshire House. In 1984, he became the Democratic Nominee for Governor in New Hampshire and an iconic political figure later in New Hampshire, particularly within the Democratic Party. His impact on local and national politics was highlighted when President Clinton recognized him at a White House Ceremony for his “major contribution” to the President’s election in 1992. He was subsequently Chairman of New Hampshire’s Democratic Party. Throughout his life, Mr. Spirou has played a significant and leading role in every effort of the Greek American Community and of American citizens in general to support Greek national issues and causes. Over the past 12 years, as President and Chairman of the Hellenic American Union, he has transformed the organization into a major academic force in Greece and a highly regarded, dynamic forum for addressing Greek-American concerns in both Europe and the United States.
2016: The Year of Yiannis Moralis The Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports announced that 2016 will be a year dedicated to the renowned Greek visual artist Yiannis Moralis (April 23, 1916 – December 20, 2009), on the occasion of the completion of 100 years since his birth. Furthermore, the Ministry announced the introduction of a biannual State Prize for Visual Arts named after the artist: the ‘’Visual Arts Award Yannis Moralis’’. The prize will be awarded to an outstanding personality in the field every two years. This year’s prize will be awarded to the late visual artist and academic Panagiotis Tetsis, for his contribution and work as Professor at the School of Fine Arts. Yiannis Moralis was born in Arta, Greece, in 1916, and later moved to Athens with his parents. 8
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He was an artist known for avoiding publicity, as he rarely gave any interviews that allowed the public to gate a glimpse of his life. From the age of 15 he attended the Athens School of Fine Arts under Umbertos Argyros and Konstantinos Parthenis. In 1963, he received a grant from his school to study in Rome for a year. He continued his studies abroad by moving to Paris to study fresco and mural work at the ‘Ecole Nationale Superiere des Beaux-Arts. He also studied mosaic at the ‘Ecole dew Arts et Metiers. Moralis returned to Greece in 1939, after the Second World War broke out. The first exhibition of his works was in 1940, followed by numerous other exhibitions both nationally and internationally. In 1947, Moralis became a Professor at the Athens School of Fine Arts until his retirement in 1983. In 1949, he formed along with other artists, such as Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghikas, Yannis Tsarouchis, Nikos Nikolaou, Nikos Engonopoulos and Panayiotis Tetsis, the ‘’Armos’’ art group. Armos had its first exhibition in 1950 in Athens’ Zappeion. Yiannis Moralis is one of the most distinguished 20th century Greek artists and part of the so-called ‘’Generation of the ‘30s’’, a group of Greek artists that thrived after the end of World War II. The artists that belonged to this artistic standpoint combined folk and modern artistic elements in the quest for ‘’Greekness’’. Moralis was inspired by Greek art and Byzantine iconography to neoclassicism, romanticism and realism. The main subject of his works was the human form, particularly the female. Some of his most renowned works include Two Friends (1946), Pregnant Woman (1948), Seated Nude (1952) and the best-known one, Erotiko (1990). From the 1970s, he moved from the realistic depictions of the human form of his earlier works towards a geometric stylization incorporating curves. Moreover, in many instances Moralis created theatrical set and costume designs for the Greek National Theatre and the Greek National Ballet; illustrating poetic works by Odysseas Elytis and Giorgos Seferis; and decorating architectural works such as the façade of the Athens Hilton, the Metro-Station ‘’Panepistimiou’’ and the Athens Central Station. In 1965 he was decorated by King Constantine II with the Order of the Phoenix. Additionally, he has been awarded the Pan-Hellenic Exhibition (1940) Painting Award and the Gold Metal for Tapestry and the International Handicrafts Fair in Munich (1973). For the admirers of his work and those who want to know more about Moralis and his inspirations, there is an 80-minute documentary covering 70 years of his life, directed by Stelios Haralambopoulos and produced by Thanos Lambropoulos, with music by Nikos Kypourgos. The film was awarded with the 9
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International Federation of Film Critics (FIRPESCI) Award, and during these 80 minutes Moralis, an artist known for shying away from the press, recalls and explains, drawing the viewer into his world. The documentary, released in 2005, provides a rare opportunity to hear him speak about his experiences, his friends and associates, as well as his early attempts to paint with his aunt Virginia at her home in Arta.
Two Greek Museums nominated for the European Museum of the Year Award 2016 The Archaeological Museum of Tegea in Tripoli, and the Museum of Typography in Chania, are among the 49 nominees for the European Museum of the Year Award 2016, An event that is organized annually (since 1977) by the European Museum Forum under the auspices of the Council of Europe and the museum which have made a significant contribution to the understanding of European cultural heritage as a factor uniting the Council of Europe’s 47 member states, scores first. The winners of the EMYA 2016 will be announced at the closing ceremony of the the Annual Assembly of the European Museum Forum which will take place on April 6-9, 2016, in Tolosa and San Sebastian, Basque Country (Spain). What is that special element that makes our Museums unique and worth to be awarded? The Archaeological Museum of Tegea, built in 1907-1908 and located in the village of Alea, is among the first regional museums to be established by the Athens Archaeological Society. The museum has a notable history. In 1935, the roof of the museum collapses and many antiquities are damaged. Markelos Mitsos, the curator of the antiquities at the time, undertakes and carries out the difficult task of the repair works. In 1941, the exhibits are buried in the museum floor since the German invasion was imminent. Through the exhibition, the visitor will follow the birth and development of Tegea, the most powerful city in ancient Arcadia. The rural sanctuaries lie at the center of the narration. Among these, the most prominent is the sanctuary of Athena Alea, famous all over the Peloponnese. For those interested in the history of Tegea, but are unable to visit the place itself, the museum has introduced a vast collection of interactive maps, as well as, a virtual tour; bringing ancient Tegea to history enthusiasts from all over the world. Recently, the museum underwent an extensive renovation and reopened in 2014. The Museum of Typography near Chania (Crete), located in the Park of Local Industries in Souda, opened its gates to the audience in May 2005. Its collections includes rare cast iron printing presses and other machines used in typography, 10
as well as tools and objects that present the development of typography from its birth, in the days of Gutenberg, up to present time. Unique books and rare newspapers, as well as precious lithographies, travel the visitor in the art of Typography. In April 2012 the museum was extended by adding a new wing with collection exhibits that are related to the development of graphic arts, as well as two important exhibitions regarding the evolution of typography and the history of writing. Follow us :
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