ELIAMEP

There are more than half a million elected officials in America, from the dog catcher of Duxbury, Vermont, to the President of the United States. Americans are called upon to vote more frequently and amply than in any other democratic country in history.

Yet voting in America has come to be plagued by a growing number of woes, from perennial voter disaffection to an allegedly outmoded electoral regime, from an excessively decentralized approach nation-wide to election administration to a widespread reliance on shoddy technology and a singular lack of security against hacking, meddling, and malevolent interference by external actors.

2018 is another election year, and the stakes are high. Can citizens cast their ballots with confidence? Are elections safe from outside intervention? Are there any signs of improvement in how Americans administer their elections? How drastic is the current state of affairs?

In collaboration with the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP), the Dukakis Center will convene a panel of experts to share their thoughts on the future of voting in America. The present event is a follow up to a round table on “Voting in America” staged in Thessaloniki in October 2016.”The Future of Voting in America”

• Michael Ertel, Supervisor of Elections, Seminole County (Florida)
• Charles Stewart III, Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Aristides N. Hatzis, Associate Professor of Philosophy of Law & Theory of Institutions,University of Athens
• Moderator: Athanasios Ellis. Editor in Chief, Kathimerini English Edition

The event will be in English

The closed event “Tour d’ Europe” about “Europe’s research and Innovation Policy”, co-organised by RISE (Research, Innovation, Science Experts group) & ELIAMEP  was held in Athens on February 12th 2018.

It was hosted by the Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) and Professor Achilleas Mitsos on its behalf. The participants from the Greek side included Patricia Kyprianidou, secretary general of R&D, as well as representatives from the private sector, universities, public research organisations, foundations and policy advisers to the government. The RISE delegation was headed by Mary Ritter, with Teresa Riera Madurell, Luke Georghiou, the RISE book authors Andrea Bonaccorsi, Lena Tsipouri, Andres Rodriguez-Pose, and the EU expert Ester Martinez-Ros.

Main messages from the event:

1. Openness can help in this transformation. Open to society, open to newcomers, an open flow of knowledge and people between universities and firms, in trans-European networks. But openness needs a frame, to create circular, non-linear flows. Researchers should have incentives to return, and the value created from open data should be shared between the researcher and the entrepreneur.
2. Use under-utilised resources.  Build a system allowing the optimal utilisation of resources in Europe. Foster meetings between excellent research and the capacity to innovate. This should not be two separate worlds. The knowledge-innovation nexus is broken, in particular in many Southern and Eastern European countries.
3. Shift from a rule-based to a people-focused policy. Create incentives for research and a culture of “knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship”. The regulatory framework must be simplified and recognize that R&I require risk taking and trust.
4. FP and Structural Funds are two separate policies but the implementation needs synergies. They are two different policies with different objectives. However, synergies could be strengthened in the implementation. Smart specialisation strategies have been positive to create long-term visions and gather actors in new platforms. But they are limited by existing firm structures, by a lack of critical mass and limited networking across regions. Synergies are also hampered by a heavy bureaucracy, double audit requirements and contradicting rules for the exploitation of R&I outcomes. For Greece, these legal constraints are worsened by specific austerity measures.
5. The next Framework Programme should combine continuity with renewal. Investing in innovative firms with the EIC is needed through long-term finance, independent from the crisis-stricken banks.  Mission-oriented R&I is also a very useful idea to connect to citizens, work across policies in a systemic way, and scale-up national missions. The missions should be selected carefully, so they respond to the needs of all European countries. Finally, Open Science and Open Data should be promoted to increase the use of the outcomes of the FP projects. However, openness should always be sensitive to the question: “For whom is it open?”

About the “Tour d’Europe”: In autumn 2017 and winter 2018, the RISE group (Research, Innovation, Science Experts group) will meet with independent Think Tanks in European capitals. The reflections will focus on where EU R&I policy should be heading and their role in the future of Europe.  The Tour d’Europe is conceived in the context of the President Juncker’ initiative to have a wide and open reflection in Europe on the future direction of the European project. The Tour d’Europe will focus on the field of research and innovation and its role in the wider European policy. It is a dialogue with among independent Think Tanks, not directly connected to national administration. The main interlocutors are policy advisers, economists, academics, and intellectuals, organised in well-recognised platforms. National authorities, as well as the EU representation, should be informed from the very beginning of the organisation.

The paper takes as starting point the call by President Vucic of Serbia for a dialogue on the future of Kosovo with a view to reaching a historic agreement between Serbs and Albanians that would help his country deal with the Kosovo issue and would make it possible for it to secure a future in the European Union. The author attempts an assessment of various efforts for settling the dispute between Serbia and Kosovo, including the Ahtisaari Plan of 2007 and the Brussels Dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina currently going on, and tries to clarify some ambiguities and misunderstandings still prevailing about basic parameters of the conflict and of the European integration of the two sides. An analysis of the principles set by Mr. Vucic to guide the debate between Serbs and Albanians, namely that (a) Serbia does not covet what doesn’t belong to her and will not relinquish what belongs to her, and (b) the protection of the Serbian religious and cultural heritage in Kosovo is of paramount importance to Serbia, leads to the conclusion that the envisaged agreement should have (a) Serbia recognize that it does not own Kosovo’s statehood, which rightfully belongs to Kosovo, and (b) Kosovo accord an exceptionalism status to the Serbian religious and cultural heritage in its territory. The author further argues that the ideal agreement between the two sides turns out to also be a possible one.

You can read the Working Paper here

“The Institution of Justice” was the topic of the speech by Mr. Giorgos Pagoulatos, Professor of European Policy and Economy at the Economic University of Athens, during the 10th Conference of Transparency International under the title “Why the institutions do not work”, held at the Divani Caravel Hotel on December 8th, 2017. In his speech Professor Pagoulatos underlined that more guarantees are needed for politicians in order for Justice to function properly.

To read the full speech in Greek please, click here

ELIAMEP organized a round-table discussion on “Labor Market and Integration of Refugees: Reality and Opportunities”, which was held on 31 January 2018. The aim of the discussion was to map out the absorption capacities in the labor market as well as to identify the steps that would make the efforts to integrate refugees into the labor market operational and effective.

For the purpose of this meeting, representatives from the Ministry of Migration Policy, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Labor, representatives of companies and businesses, non-governmental organizations aiming at the connection of refugees with the labor market and representatives of professional confederations were invited to participate. The event aimed at networking among the stakeholders and highlighting good practices from the point of view of integration.

The event was initiated and organised by the National Coordinator for the European Web Site on Integration (EWSI), Mrs Marina Nikolova, and, the discussion was moderated by Prof. Dia Anagnostou, Assistant Professor of Politics at Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences and Senior Research Fellow at ELIAMEP.

Speakers:

• Mrs. Panayota Dionyssopoulou, General Director of the Higher Education Department, Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs
• Mrs. Maria Fassari, International Relations Department, Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs (Presentation of the European Qualifications Passport for Refugees)
• Mr. Athanasios Vitsentzatos, Director of the Social Integration Department, Ministry of Migration Policy
• Mr. Vaios Kotsios, Research Assossiate of the National Institute of Labour and Human Resources
• Mr. Lefteris Papayannakis, Vice Mayor of Athens
• Presentations of project carried out by small enterprises and NGOs targeting the integration into the labour market for refugees and migrants: Mrs. Katerina Kapnisi – Career Counsellor – Coordinator at Generation 2.0, Mrs. Fiori Zafeiropoulou – Founder and CEO SOFFA Social Fashion Factory, Mr. Andreas Stefanidis – Founder, Academy of entrepreneurship

Other participants:

Mrs. Anastasia Sikiaridi – Livelihoods Officer, International Rescue Committee,Mrs. Ilektra Simitsi – Livelihoods Manager, International Rescue Committee, Mrs. Ioanna Porfyri – Research Fellow at Small Enterprises’ Institute of the Hellenic Confederation of Professionals, Craftsmen and Merchants (IME GSEVEE), Representative of the Ministry of Labour, Social Insurance and Social Solidarity and Representative of the Greek Council of Refugees (GCR)

The Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) under the Mercator European Dialogue (MED) program, successfully organized the “Energy Security Nexus” workshop in Brussels on 29-30 January 2018. European MPs and researchers attended the event, who had the opportunity to exchange views on the subject and visit the CORESO offices, a company in the field of energy. This exchange has been initiated under the framework of the Mercator European Dialogue, a project organised by the German Marshall Fund of the United States in cooperation with the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs, the Istituto Affari Internazionali in Rome, and the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy in Athens and is funded by Stiftung Mercator and since 2017 also by the King Baudouin Foundation

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Within this volume, researchers from three countries have made an assessment of the different steps that economic and humanitarian migrants experience during their journey across Europe. The volume presents the results of a research programme developed by FEPS and SOLIDAR on the topic of migration and integration.

With three outstanding contributions covering the cases of Greece, Italy and Germany, the volume aims to assess the procedures in place from first reception at arrival to the integration in society and labour market of asylum seekers and migrants, with a focus on women and minors. The level of involvement of NGOs in the reception system and integration policies in the three countries is also explored and assessed in the volume. The book also includes a photographic project which complements the assessment made by the authors with visual testimonies of the situations faced by migrants on their journey across Europe.

The case study on Greece, titled “The Long Road to Integration- Possibilities and Obstacles for Newly Arrived Asylum Seekers in Greece” was written by Dr. Angeliki Dimitriadi.

The book is available to download here

After many years of virtual inaction, the dispute over the name of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is again attracting political attention in Athens, Skopje and important Western capitals. In the latest issue of ELIAMEP’s Strategic Analyses series, prominent analysts offer their views on the latest developments in the diplomatic relations between Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

On the occasion of Saad Hariri’s disappearance in Saudi Arabia and his tele-resignation from his seat as prime minister of Lebanon, this note discusses various parameters regarding the background of these events. You can access the Briefing Note here.

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Following the publication of ELIAMEP White Book on Greek Foreign Policy, Defence and Security, the Academy of Athens gave an award to the Foundation. President of ELIAMEP, Professor Loukas Tsoukalis received the prize on 21 December 2017.

Professor Loukas Tsoukalis said after the ceremony:

‘This prize is a great honor and recognition of ELIAMEP’s work in the last 30 years. Congratulations to all his members, associates and friends’.

Tuesday, 09 January 2018 – 14.30 to 16.30, Brussels
Policy Dialogue

2018: A turning point for European integration?

Speaker(s):

Janis A. Emmanouilidis, Director of Studies, European Policy Centre
Zaki Laïdi, Professor of International Relations, Sciences Po, Paris;
former Advisor to the Prime Minister of France
Loukas Tsoukalis, Professor of European Integration, University of Athens
Herman Van Rompuy, President, European Policy Centre; President Emeritus of the European Council
Fabian Zuleeg, Chief Executive, European Policy Centre

ELIAMEP is among the European think tanks which contributed to the study: Facing Russia’s strategic challenge: Security developments from the Baltic to the Black Sea, published by the European Parliament. Dr Panagiota Manoli and Dr Theodore Tsakiris are the authors. You can access the study here.

You can read here the article on Erdogan’s Greece visit which was written by Director General of ELIAMEP Dr Thanos Dokos. This commentary was published in the Greek daily Kathimerini on 13 December 2017 [in Greek].

President of ELIAMEP Professor Loukas Tsoukalis wrote an article in the Sunday edition of Kathimerini on Europe and Social Democracy. You can access it here.

Ambassador (ad.hon.) Pavlos Apostolidis gave an interview in Dimikratiki of Rhodes newspaper analysing Greek-Turkish relations. The content is available here (in Greek).

In Working Paper 88/2017 of ELIAMEP’s South East Europe Programme, Research Associate Bledar Feta deals with the political situation in Kosovo. More specifically, the paper attempts to provide the main aspects of the political and institutional crisis that hit Kosovo after Parliamentary elections of June 8th, 2014. The aim of the paper, besides giving an overview of the most important developments since then, is to provide an analysis on the attempts of Kosovar political class to establish a stable government putting under the microscope their political behaviour. In addition, the paper deals with the last parliamentary elections, as well as the new government’s priorities, the challenges ahead and the key policy issues which remain a major talking point in the political and public debate, polarizing opposition, the coalition government and the public opinion in general.

Dr Thanos Dokos spoke with Greek News Agenda* about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Greece, Greek-Turkish relations today and their economic aspect, as well as EU-Turkey relations and Turkish foreign policy in the Middle East:

How would you describe Greek-Turkish relations today?

Greece has moved away from zero-sum game perceptions vis-à-vis Turkey and overall, the two countries are much better off today in terms of bilateral relations (including trade and people-to-people contacts) than they were a few years ago [before 1999 to be more precise]. Having said that, neither country has moved from their firm positions regarding ‘high politics’ issues and Greece and Turkey continue to perceive each other through a Hobbesian prism. Greek policy-makers are moving away from “zero-sum game” perceptions regarding Greek-Turkish relations, but scepticism and distrust continue to linger as Turkey insists on its revisionist policies. During the last few years Turkey has been conducting frequent low level overflights of Greek islets and islands whose sovereignty Ankara started disputing rather recently. Turkey’s political objective is to promote its claims regarding maritime zones in the Aegean. Challenging the sovereignty of inhabited islands is a highly escalatory and potentially destabilising policy of brinkmanship, however.

It seems unlikely that there will be major progress in the near future in fully normalizing bilateral relations. It would be more productive if the two sides explored ideas for confidence-building measures and functional interim solutions regarding overflights, air-space violations and dogfights.

Erdogan has already visited Greece in the past. This will be his first visit as President. In fact he will be the first Turkish president visiting Greece in 65 years. What do you think about the timing of the visit and which are the expected outcomes for both sides?

The visit is taking place at a time of President Erdogan’s choice. It is probably related to Turkey’s difficult relations with the majority of EU countries, as well as the US and the resulting diplomatic isolation. A state visit to Greece would be a good photo opportunity and a successful public relations exercise for the Turkish president, who is eager to show that he is still welcomed in an EU member state, despite the bilateral problems and his authoritarian style of government. For the Greek government the expectation is that this visit and the resulting good will, in combination with Ankara’s many foreign and domestic problems will lead to a period of lower tension between Greece and Turkey and perhaps better cooperation on the migration issue. Boosting economic cooperation is another expectation for the Greek side.

Are we to expect further progress in the field of economic cooperation between Greece and Turkey?

TheTurkish side has put on the table a few potentially interesting proposals for economic cooperation. Boosting economic ties would be important for both sides, as Turkey remains an export destination for Greece whose economy is still struggling with the economic crisis, whereas the Turkish economy has been slowing down after several years of impressive growth rates. Energy is another area of potential cooperation. Already there is a natural gas pipeline linking the two countries and another one, the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), that will carry gas from Azerbaijan to Italy, via Turkey, Greece and Albania, is under construction. The Russian proposal for an extension of the so-called Turkish Stream (another proposed pipeline) through Greece and then to other European destinations will have to overcome the obstacle of difficult political relations between Russia and the West.

You believe that Turkey still wants to join the European Union or that it wishes to establish another kind of relation with the EU?  

President Erdogan has made every possible effort to cause tension with major EU countries and alienate Turkey’s Western partners and allies. As a result of undemocratic practices inside Turkey, a number of European policymakers and a majority of the members of the European Parliament have been asking for a formal suspension of Turkey’s accession negotiations. Greece is one of several EU member states believing that such a decision would be counterproductive as it would cause Turkey to drift further away from Western institutions. Turkey’s key role in the management of refugee/migration flows would make such a development rather costly for the EU. It would also be tantamount to ‘abandoning’ those in Turkey (probably 50% of the population) who are against undemocratic practices and support a closer relationship with the EU. Of course, any expectation that Turkey could join the EU in the foreseeable future would be unrealistic. The best both sides could aim for is a better working relationship that would allow more efficient cooperation in areas of common interest (or concern).

What is the Turkish foreign policy in the Middle East?

After decades of very selective engagement with the Middle East, AKP’s Turkey has been trying to increase its presence in the region, using mostly its soft power to increase its regional role and influence. A confrontational attitude towards Israel was intended to serve those objectives. The Arab revolts significantly disrupted Turkey’s Middle Eastern policies. Ankara then tried to play the Sunni card by supporting the Muslim Brotherhood in various Arab countries. This policy failed spectacularly in Egypt. Turkish support for the opposition in Syria also didn’t produce the expected results, as the Assad regime proved to be quite resilient. The situation became more complicated because of the emergence of ISIS and the support given to the Syrian Kurds by various powers. Turkey is currently struggling to prevent the emergence of autonomous Kurdish entities and is trying to re-define its relations with regional and global actors in the Middle East.

Source: Greek News Agenda

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