Athens
Our Foundation operates in Greece since 2012. This is the second period of our work in the country, following the "long" 1980s. Our work began with the sovereign debt crisis, supporting liberal agencies to promote certain reforms that would liberate the economy. It continues on 3 thematic pillars: (a) empowerment of civil society; (b) encouragement and advancement of entrepreneurship; and, (c) support to liberal political projects, especially at the local-municipal level of administration. Additionally, since 2013 we run the Liberal Political Academy, an inclusive program for political education for independent individuals.
News
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Freedom of the Press in Greece
On April 20, the annual World Press Freedom Index for 2021 was published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF). It is the established annual survey that assesses the freedom enjoyed by journalists in 180 countries, and which includes scores and benchmarks according to a number of criteria. In recent years, as the influence of many governments on the media has affected the quality of information, this research has become particularly important.
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#MeToo Greece: Women ending silence of sexual abuse
More than three years after the MeToo movement in the US brought shockwaves to the glittering world of Hollywood, a former Olympic champion in Greece opened the debate on revelations of sexual abuse in this country, too, shaking politics and society. FNF took up the issue with a panel discussion with prominent speakers.
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#MeToo in Greece: Olympic gold winner speaks out over sexual harassment amidst political frictions
Not many Greeks were familiar with the international #MeToo movement before Sofia Bekatorou broke her silence, last December. An Olympic, World and European sailing champion, Bekatorou (43) publicized her allegations for sexual abuse speaking firstly to a magazine and later to an online public event. She said that she was harassed from a senior member of Greece’s Sailing Federation (HSF) when she was 21.
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The Playbook – Liberal Leadership and Strategic Communications in the COVID-19 Era
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about new political and policy challenges and has reframed old ones. It is the goal of the report “The Playbook – Liberal Leadership and Communications in the COVID-19 era” to take stock of these evolutions and synthesize some of the issues that liberal leaders have to respond to in a context of massive uncertainty.
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Is North Macedonia in danger?
To watch closely the developments on this important regional issue, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (Project Greece), the University of Macedonia (Greece) and the European Policy Institute (North Macedonia) have founded the Prespes Agreement Observatory. The mission of the Observatory focuses on monitoring the overall implementation of the Prespes Agreement in both Greece and North Macedonia.
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Survey: Liberalism in Greece, today
The Greek office of our Foundation cooperated with KAPA Research on a very important survey about Liberalism in Greece. The interviewees were asked about their perception on liberalism and its values as well as about their opinion on major contemporary issues. The Sample Size was 1214 respondents proportionally distributed throughout Greece’s 13 regions. The period of Data Collection was 14-22 October 2020.
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FNF Greece: Innovation and Entrepreneurship Awards 2020
For the second consecutive year, the Greek office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom organized the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Awards, titled “Innovate Greece 2020”. Given the restrictions due to COVID-19 only 50 guests were allowed but this did not prevent the good spirit in the celebration of the champions of Greek entrepreneurship for 2020.
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Another session without liberals
Greece’s conservatives returned to power after a decisive victory in last Sunday’s snap elections. New Democracy (ND), run by Kyriakos Mitsotakis (son of Konstantinos Mitsotakis who served as Prime Minister in the early 1990s, brother of former foreign minister Dora Bakoyannis and uncle to newly elected mayor of Athens Kostas Bakoyannis) has achieved an overwhelming majority in the new parliamentary session with 39,9% and 158 out of 300 seats.
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Remembering the persecution of Istanbul's Greek minority
On the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the Turkish pogrom against the Greek minority of Istanbul, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation or Freedom produced a documentary film with statements from witnesses and experts for the 1955 events that destroyed Istanbul's vast Greek minority.
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1st Young Liberals Conference. The only liberal youth organization in Greece.
With the support of the FNF, our strategic partner in Greece, Young Liberals Greece, a member of LYMEC, organized our first conference in Athens from Friday 31/07 to Sunday 02/08/2020.
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Moses Elisaf, Greece's first Jewish and liberal mayor
Medical doctor, academic and non-partisan politician, in May 2019 he was elected Mayor of Ioannina. Without the support of any of the imposing political parties, Elisaf overturned predictions and won the support of his city's fellow voters.
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The migration crisis at the Greek-Turkish borders
Following the developments in the migration crisis (January-February 2020), the Greek office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom organised a snap study trip to the Greek-Turkish border to get first-hand information. It was a demanding journey with my colleagues on either side of Evros, to find out what Is going on, beyond the processed information by the media.
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“Freedom Talks 2020 - The courage of expression and the freedom of speech”
The first event for 2020 for project Greece was inspired by the Global Topic about disinformation and the freedom of expression. In a full house, at the youth hub of Six D.O.G.S. at the very center of Athens, more than 120 liberals came along to take part, talk and celebrate the New Year with the Greek custom of “Vasilopita” (the equivalent of King’s pie in northern Europe).
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Out of Sight, Out of Mind
A human tragedy is unfolding at the Turkish-Greek border. While Erdoğan, the President of Turkey, is waving refugees through to Europe, the European Union is failing to come up with a humane solution to the problem beset by fears of repeating the experience of 2015. The rush to shut down borders is putting European values in an increasingly precarious position.
Social Media
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❓ ‘Freedom in Europe became an endangered value in the last decade.’ 👉 Find out the freedom trends in the 10 years’ anniversary publication of the Freedom Barometer Index 👉 https://bit.ly/3ejDLT5
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🖤 'With Hans van Baalen’s passing, we have not only lost a great liberal, but a great European. But even this characterisation of him falls short: Hans van Baalen was a citizen of the world who not only cared deeply about the unity of Europe, but who also fought for promoting the mutual understanding of all people around the world.' ALDE Party – Liberals and Democrats for Europe #liberals https://bit.ly/3eJXwC9
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