HELLENIC RESOURCES

Hellenic Resources Institute - Hellenic Resources Groups

Vol.1 No.1

Visits of Greek Public Policy Makers: This group aims to increase awareness on the part of Greek Parliamentarians with regard to the resources and tools available to assist the foreign policy making process, and new approaches to conflict management and negotiation. The purpose and scope of the project are the organization of bi-annual visits of groups of 5 Parliamentarians from the five major political parties in Greece.

The first visit took place during February 21-25, 1994. The public policy decision makers that participated where: Dimitrios Palaiothodoros (PA.SO.K.), Byron Polydoras (New Democracy), and Konstantinos Rigas (Synaspismos). Political Spring and the Communist Party were not represented during this visit although HRI forwarded invitations to them.

The three public policy makers attended seminars at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, The JFK School of Public Policy, The Conflict Management Group, and Emerson College with the title "Conflict Management in the Balkans."

During the early evening hours of February 25, the three politicians participated in a panel discussion at the Maliotis Cultural Center. The topic at hand was "Greek Foreign Policy: Balancing between the United States and Europe." The panel discussion was successfully moderated by Vangelis Calotychos, an Executive Body member. As always, a large number of people from the Greek community of the greater Boston area attended the panel discussion. The panel discussion was followed by a reception at the 57 Park Plaza Hotel to honor our three guests.

More than one hundred people, including the General Consul of Greece, attended the reception where the three public policy makers urged the Greek community to support HRI both financially and morally during its first steps.

Overall, the visit of the three public policy makers was a major success. According to their statements, they accumulated tremendous knowledge from their interaction with the academics and policy analysts at the aforementioned institutions.

Moreover, they had the opportunity to express the Greek point of view regarding foreign policy issues to policy experts who sometimes influence the foreign policy of the State Department. Following this academic visit in Boston, the three participants went to New York and Washington, D.C. to meet with senior public officials of the U.S. government.

Having learned from the coordination of this first visit, the HRG is already working towards greater success during the next visit.

If anyone is interested to help, please contact Thomas Varvitsiotis at (617) 338-6175.