“Greece is guided by a sense of self-confidence and contribution towards Europe”, Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, underlined in his address on January 26, at an event in honour of the former Vice-Rector of Administrative Affairs of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), Professor Emeritus of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Prof. Napoleon Maravegias.
In particular, Mr Varvitsiotis stated that “in recent years Greece has picked up the thread of its European path again, free from the burden of the MoU’s, without constantly extending its hand like a beggar, so that the rest of Europe can accept its specific national features. It has put forward a coherent European discourse, has addressed crises as European rather than national, putting the overall interest of the European Union first”. “Greek initiatives to tackle the crises were adopted by the EU and became European policies,” the Alternate Minister emphasized, referring to the Greek government’s initiatives to jointly address the covid crisis, the creation of the Recovery and Resilience Fund and, more recently, the energy crisis. “Greece’s natural place is in Europe. In every problem we face, the solution is more Europe. We need to strengthen the mechanisms of the European Union as well as common responses to shared challenges,” he pointed out.
The Alternate Minister praised Professor Napoleon Maravegias, both for his academic work and for his public presence, as a proponent of a consistent European stance.
The event, which took place in the Ceremony Hall of the University of Athens, was also addressed by Michael Tsinisizelis, Professor of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration of the University of Athens, and Charalambos Chrysanthakis, President of the Department. The Rector of the University of Athens, Professor Meletios-Athanasios K. Dimopoulos, awarded an honorary plaque to Professor Napoleon Maravegias.