Dear Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Dear Mayors, dear Professors,
Dear online participants,
The General Secretariat for Greeks Abroad and Public Diplomacy is very happy to keep its promise and organize, despite the difficulties due to the pandemic, the second digital forum of "Public Diplomacy Talks," which this year is dedicated to “City Diplomacy.”
For Greece, “City Diplomacy” is already well integrated into its long history. From the ancient times and the famous Greek city-states to the present day with:
- a large number of town-twinning partnerships in Europe and the world,
- Greece’s strong presence within the EU Committee of the Regions and
- the “European Capital of Culture,” an idea put forward in 1985 by Melina Mercouri, Minister of Culture of Greece at that time, and her French counterpart Jack Lang.
This is why, we are very glad to have chosen ‘City Diplomacy’ as this year’s topic. And of course, we are particularly honored by the participation of our distinguished guests.
The first panel of our forum is hosting Dr. Lorenzo Kihlgren Grandi, Ms Sohaela Amiri and Dr. Antonios Karvounis. Dr. Grandi is the founder of Urban Flag, and lecturer at Sciences Po Paris, École Polytechnique and Columbia University. Ms Sohaela Amiri is a researcher at the University of Southern California and Dr. Antonios Karvounis is the Head of the Interministerial Committee for the International Partnerships of Local Government. They will focus on the new globalized role of the cities with examples from Greece and abroad.
Thank you so much, dear friends, for supporting this forum with your participation. Your expertise will be extremely useful to all of us seeking to understand the role of modern cities in the field of international relations.
In the second panel, we will have the pleasure of hosting two parallel debates with four elected mayors who will inform us about their cities and how they work together. On one side, Kostas Bakoyiannis, Mayor of Athens and Rui Moreira, Mayor of Porto, Portugal and on the other side, Moses Elisaf, Mayor of Ioannina, Greece and Israel Gal, Mayor of Kiryat Ono, Israel.
Dear Mayors, thank you very much for participating, I’m so glad you were all able to join us. Your rich experience will shed light on many aspects of your new role as agents of international cooperation alongside traditional players, such as the states or the international organizations.
Many thanks also to the moderator of the panel, Ms Nektaria Stamouli, a regional Athens-based correspondent for Brussels Politico and a foreign affairs reporter at Athens News Agency.
Finally, I would like to thank all of you who are now following this discussion online. Let us hope that next year’s “PD Talks” will take place as a live event, without all these Covid-19 restrictions we have been applying for the last two years.
Dear friends,
According to a quote by Wellington Webb, former Mayor of Denver, “the 19th century was the century of empires, the 20th century the century of nation states, and the 21st century will be that of cities”. How true is that? In the age of globalization, are cities able to play a key role in international relations? Can the elected Mayors be supported by city diplomacy in fulfilling the objectives of their mandate? And, what is most interesting for all of us here in the General Secretariat for Greeks Abroad and Public Diplomacy, can cities -through the creation of global networks- have a substantial effect on the image of their nations? Can they help the official foreign policy of their countries by creating a climate of mutual understanding between peoples?
Dear panelists,
Let’s start debating. The floor is yours.
June 17, 2021