George Papandreou, junior

Giorgos (or George) Andreas Papandreou, Γιώργος Α. Παπανδρέου (born 16 June 1952), is a Greek politician and has been Foreign Minister of Greece since 1999. The son and grandson of Greek prime ministers, Papandreou will become leader of Greece's ruling party in February 2004 and will become Prime Minister if he wins the elections on March 7, 2004.

Table of contents

1 Background 2 Political career 3 Party leadership 4 Personal 5 See also 6 External links

Background

Papandreou was born in St Paul, Minnesota, in the United States, where his father, Andreas Papandreou, then held a university post. He was educated at schools in Toronto Canada, at Amherst College in Massachusetts, at Stockholm University in Sweden, at the London School of Economics and finally at Harvard University. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Amhest College (USA, 1970-1975) and a Master of Arts degree in Sociology (Sociology of Development) from the London School of Economics (UK, 1976-1977). He was a researcher in immigration issues at Stockholm University 1972-1973). He was also a Fellow (CFIA) of the Foreign Relations Centre of the Harvard University in 1992-1993). Apart from Greek and English he is also fluent in Swedish.

Papandreou's educational career reflected the movements of his father, who had been exiled from Greece for political reasons in 1939 and did not return until 1959. His grandfather, the elder George Papandreou, was twice Prime Minister of Greece. The younger George did not settle in Greece until after the restoration of Greek democracy in 1974. He then became active in his father's party, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK). As the son of the party leader he had a rapid rise, joining the Central Committee of PASOK in 1984, but no-one disputed his genuine ability.

Political career

Papandreou was elected to the Greek Parliament in 1981, the year his father became Prime Minister. He became Under Secretary for Cultural Affairs in 1985, Minister of Education and Religious Affairs in 1988, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1993, Minister of Education and Religious Affairs again in 1994, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs again in 1996 and Minister of Foreign Affairs in February 1999. He was also Minister Responsible for Government Coordinator for the Bid for 2004 Olympic Games in 1997.

In the last years of his father's life Papandreou's loyalty was severely strained when his father divorced his mother to marry Dimitra Liani, an Olympic Airways hostess. Papandreou was estranged from his father but their political relationship did not seem to suffer. When Andreas Papandreou died in 1996 George delivered a generous tribute at his funeral, but ensured that Margaret, not Dimitra, was treated as Andreas's widow.

Papandreou has received numerous awards and honorary degrees in recognition of his work for human rights. As Foreign Minister he has abandoned the sometimes inflammatory nationalist rhetoric of his father and fostered closer relations with Turkey, Albania and Bulgaria, all countries with which Greece has traditionally had hostile relations. He has worked without success to solve the dispute over Cyprus, being unwilling to make concessions on Greece's fundamental position that Cyprus must be reunited. He has also worked to repair the damage of the Macedonia crisis of the early 1990s.

On December 22 2003, European Voice in the publication "The Europeans of the Year" named him as "The Bridge-Builder" and "Diplomat of the Year". [1]. Le Monde has called him the "architect of Greek-Turkish rapprochement". He is a founding member of the Helsinki Citizens Assembly.

Party leadership

Greece is a country where dynastic politics have a long tradition, and it was widely expected that Papandreou would eventually succeed Costas Simitis as leader of PASOK and become Prime Minister himself. On January 7 2004 Simitis announced his resignation as leader of PASOK, and on January 8 2004 he suggested that the PASOK leadership elections, where PASOK members will vote for the new president, be held on February 8 2004. The only expected nominee for PASOK presidency is George Papandreou. The national elections are scheduled for March 7 2004.

If Papandreou won the March 7 elections he would become Prime Minister, making three generations of the Papandreou family in Greece's highest elected office. PASOK, however, was trailing the opposition New Democracy party in the polls at the time of Simitis's announcement.

According to Macedonian Press Agency (one of the two major news agencies in Greece, the other one is Athens News Agency): On January 9 2004 the US Secretary of State Colin Powell made positive comments for George Papandreou. In his own words: “Giorgos Papandreou is a very good friend of mine." (source: [1]).

Personal

See also

• Panhellenic Socialist Movement
• Politics of Greece

• Official site
• Profile by Athens News Agency in English
• Profile by Macedonian Press Agency in Greek