"Is there a Danger of new Walls in Europe?"

MP Dora Bakoyannis (Member of the Greek Parliament; Former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece; Former Mayor of Athens)

(Berlin; November 8th, 2014)

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MP Dora Bakoyannis

(Member of the Greek Parliament; Former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece; Former Mayor of Athens)

Biography

Dora Bakoyannis is a Member of Parliament in Greece, the former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece and the former Mayor of Athens.

Academic Career

Dora Bakoyannis was educated at the German School of Paris. After studying Political Science and Communication at the Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich, she continued her studies in Political Science and Public Law at the University of Athens.

Political Career

Dora Bakoyannis has been an elected Member of Parliament since 1989. She was first elected as MP for Evrytania. She was Minister of Foreign Affairs, from February 2006 to October 2009, the highest position ever held by a woman in the Greek Cabinet. She was also Chairperson-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 2009. 

Previously, Ms. Bakoyannis was the Mayor of Athens, from 2003 to 2006, the first female mayor in the city's history so far, and the first woman to serve as mayor of a city hosting the Olympic Games. She has held a variety of positions, she was appointed Minister for Culture in 1992 and Under-Secretary of State in 1990, she also served as Chief of Staff for the New Democracy leader Konstantinos Mitsotakis from 1984 to1989. In 1977, she entered the Ministry of Economic Coordination working for the Department of European Economic Community (EEC) Affairs.

Awards and Achievements

Ms. Bakoyannis has been awarded the International Leadership Award by the International Centre for Women and her valuable contribution to culture was recognized by the 14th International Symposium Fontana di Roma. In 2003, upon the invitation of Romano Prodi, the then President of the European Commission, she joined a group of 12 high-level independent figures from Europe, as a member of a prestigious round-table conference, contributing proposals on the social character, cultural identity and the economic future of Europe.

Dora Bakoyannis was voted World Mayor in 2005. Since 2006, she has been included in the Forbes annual list of the Worlds’ Most Powerful Women for three consecutive years. In 2008, she was awarded the “Emperor Maximilian Award - European Award for Regional Policy and Local Government” by the State of Tyrol and the city of Innsbruck.

In 2009, she was named as the first female foreign associate of the French Academy of Human and Political Sciences (Académie Française des Sciences Morales et Politiques). During the same year, she was named Honorary Senator of the European Academy of Sciences and Art. In 2010, Dora Bakoyannis has been awarded the National Order of the Chivalry of the Legion of Honour of the French Republic (Ordre Nationale de Chevalier de la Legion d' Honneur).

Is there a Danger of new Walls in Europe?

The Annual Conference on Cultural Diplomacy (Berlin; November 8th, 2014)

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