Europe’s Challenges: Migration, Economy, and Foreign Policy from the Greek Perspective

On February 23, the Atlantic Council’s Future Europe Initiative hosted an off-the-record roundtable discussion with Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic, Ambassador Dimitrios Paraskevopoulos.

Greece currently faces significant foreign policy challenges, amid increasing regional destabilization and a continuous influx of migrants and refugees into Europe through Greek borders. Addressing the ongoing refugee crisis, which has seen over 900,000 people arrive in the country since 2015, has become one of Greece’s main priorities. At the event, Ambassador Paraskevopoulos discussed Greek strategies for managing the crisis, and how migration will impact the country’s evolving role as a key player in the Eastern Mediterranean region. With the Greek financial crisis still unfolding, Ambassador Paraskevopoulos further addressed the state of the economy and its impact on Greek foreign policy.

Dimitrios Paraskevopoulos has served in the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs for over thirty-five years, in posts ranging from embassy attaché to Ambassador. He was the Greek Ambassador to Moscow in 2002 and the Greek Ambassador to Paris in 2005. Ambassador Paraskevopoulos also directed the Greek Prime Minister’s diplomatic cabinet in 2009 and headed the office of the Greek Presidency of the European Union in 2012. He was appointed the foreign ministry’s Secretary General in 2015.