“Greece from the Cold War to the Financial Crisis and beyond: European dynamics and national developments"

The Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) in cooperation with the Saxo-Institute at University of Copenhagen and the Embassy of Greece in Copenhagen have the pleasure of inviting you to a seminar on:

“Greece from the Cold War to the Financial Crisis and beyond: European dynamics and national developments"

Monday 2 June 2014, 10.00-14.00

Background

Greece is about to complete its 5^th EU Presidency, having promoted all the major files, including landmark agreements on the Banking Union. Simultaneously, key economic indicators suggest that Greece is on its way out of its worst economic crisis since the brutal occupation by the Axis powers and a devastating Civil War in the 1940s. The primary budget surplus for 2013 is higher than initial estimates and targets set by its international lenders and after four years and the country has returned to the markets; it also expects a modest growth for 2014. At the same time, unemployment is still record high, the economy has shrunk by almost 25% during the past six years in recession, and two elections, in May and June 2012, have changed the traditional political landscape, which governed the country for more than three decades. How should we evaluate these diverse trends and how should we expect them to affect the overall economic, political and social situation in Greece? What does this bode for the future of Greece, and for the EU?

To answer these questions Greece's recent history provides an important guide. This is true, in particular, regarding the dynamics, which have tied Greece and Europe together in a relation of mutual reliance since the beginning of the post war period. In this process Greece became a modular example of how to achieve stability, Western solidarity and European integration. This seminar will explore these questions and take a broader look at the present situation in Greece and its consequences for the EU

1.                                      Session: The way to Europe, 10.00-12.00

Greece's Present Position in Europe and its Recent History

-  Introduction: Cecilie Banke Stokholm and Mogens Pelt

-  Evanthis Hatzivassiliou, "Cold War Allegiances and Societal Pressures:

Post-war Reconstruction and Greece's Position in the International Economic System"

-  Konstantina E. Botsiou, "Greece's Road to European Integration: from Cold War Frontline State to EC/EU-Membership"

-  Christos Christidis, "The Dynamics of Greek Democracy and European Institutions: from the Council of Europe Case of 1967-9 to Accession in the European Communities, 1981"

2.                                      Session: Current and future challenges. 13.00-14.30. Roundtable

Greece and its future challenges in a European perspective.

Speakers:

Evanthis Hatzivassiliou, University of Athens Konstantina Botsiou, University of Peloponnese Christos Christidis, Hellenic Open University Mogens Pelt, University of Copenhagen Sevasti Chatzopoulou, University of Roskilde Fabrizio Tassinari, DIIS