News

The Hellenic Observatory at the Cyprus Forum

The Hellenic Observatory participated in the 2022 Cyprus Forum on 30 Septemper 2022 with a joint HO/ELIAMEP panel. Professor Spyros Spyrou and Dr Eleni Theodorou presented completed research from their project ‘There is No Plan(et) B: youth activism in the fight against climate change in Cyprus’, funded by the Hellenic Observatory. This event was chaired by Professor Kevin Featherstone.

Simon Glendinning on Kevin Featherstone's retirement

Head of the European Institute, Professor Simon Glendinning, shares his thoughts on Professor Kevin Featherstone’s retirement from his Chair in the European Institute in August this year. Professor Featherstone will become a Professorial Research Fellow in the European Institute and will remain Director of the Hellenic Observatory. More details available here.

7th Annual Delphi Economic Forum

Professor Kevin Featherstone attended the Annual Meeting of the Delphi Economic Forum VII:  New Realities, which took place between April 6-9,  2022. Professor Featherstone acted as chair during the 'Defending Democracy in Challenging Times' fireside chat, and the panel discussion; 'Universities after Brexit: What Future for UK - Greek ties?'. More details available here.

In memory of Professor Theodore Couloumbis

It is with much sadness that we learn that Professor Theodoros Couloumbis of the University of Athens has died. Professor Couloumbis was a noted scholar of International Relations and of Greek foreign policy.  He made a number of notable contributions to public life in Greece, including his leadership of the ELIAMEP think-tank. He was encouraging to many scholars, especially young academics. He will be much missed. We send our condolences to his family and friends.

Professor Kevin Featherstone has been bestowed the title ‘Doctor Honoris Causa’ by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 3 March 2022

The Hellenic Observatory is pleased to announce that its director, Professor Kevin Featherstone, has been conferred the title ‘Doctor Honoris Causa’ by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. The ceremony took place at the University on Thursday 3rd March 2022. The title is the highest honour bestowed by the University and is in recognition of his ‘outstanding work’ in political science and political economy. More details are available here.

Professor Kevin Featherstone at the 7th annual E.EN.E Economic Forum, 'Entrepreneurship 2.0 for Greece 2.0'

Professor Kevin Featherstone delivered a keynote address at the 7th annual E.EN.E Economic Forum, that took place on Wednesday 15 December. The event was hybrid and you can watch it here. More details are available here.

Dr Vassilis Monastiriotis in an online discussion on: "Youth Employment and Gender Equality”

Dr Vassilis Monastiriotis will participate as discussant at an event for the research project "Youth Employment and Gender Equality: Mobilizing human capital for sustainable growth in Greece", funded by the EEA Grants and implemented by ELIAMEP in collaboration with the Norwegian Institute for Labor and Social Research (Fafo). The event was held Tuesday 14 December 2021.

Professor Kevin Featherstone was in conversation with Dr Thanos Veremis, at an event organised by the Greek Archaeological Committee (UK)

Professor Kevn Featherstone was in conversation with Dr Thanos Veremis, Professor Emeritus of Political History, University of Athens, at the event “From a Pre-Modern Society to the Modern Greek Nation-State”, on 3 December 2021. 

Dr Spyros Economides in a roundtable discussion with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic, Mr Nikos Dendias

Dr Spyros Economides participated in a roundtable discussion with Mr Nikos Dendias, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic. The event focusing on "Enhancing Security and Stability in Europe and the Mediterranean", was organised by the Royal United Services Institute on 25 October 2021.

Professor Kevin Featherstone was the moderator of the Workshop 'Boosting Migrant Integration Reforms: from inclusion to resilience'.

Professor Kevin Featherstone was the moderator of the Workshop organised by the Directorate General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM), European Commission, on 13 October 2021, at 16:30-18:00 (CEST).

Professor Kevin Featherstone talked about ‘Europe in Modern Greece: The constant Navarino’, 1 June 2021

Professor Kevin Featherstone was the main speaker of the event ‘Europe in Modern Greece: The constant Navarino’. This online event organised on Tuesday 1 June by the Athens University of Economics and Business in the context of the bicentennial of the 1821 Greek Revolution. An interesting discussion with Professor George Pagoulatos followed.

Professor Kevin Featherstone at the Delphi Economic Forum 2021, 12 May 2021

Professor Featherstone was panellist at the Delphi Economic Forum panel 'Going forwards or being held back? Can the EU manage both solidarity and the turn towards illiberalism?'. Along with Iain Begg, Danuta Hübner, Ivan Krastev and Loukas Tsoukalis, he discussed conflicting pressures in the EU’s recovery programme.

Professor Kevin Featherstone has been bestowed the award of Grand Commander, Order of the Phoenix of the Hellenic Republic, 19 April 2021

The award was presented to Professor Featherstone by H.E. Mr Ioannis Raptakis, Ambassador of Greece. Professor Featherstone was among the six distinguished philhellenes to be awarded honorary distinctions in recognition and reward of their contribution to the strengthening of Greek-British relations and the promotion of Greece in the United Kingdom. April 19th, day of Philhellenism and International Solidarity, was chosen for its symbolic meaning as Greece celebrates the 200 years since the outbreak of the Greek Revolution of 1821 and the Greek War of Independence. Professor Featherstone is one of the few that holds two insignia, since in 2013 he had been conferred Commander, Order of the Phoenix.

Professor Kevin Featherstone at the Conference 'Greece: 200 years of economic survival'

Professor Kevin Featherstone was a keynote speaker at the conference ‘Greece: 200 years of economic survival’, organised by The Economist on 8 April 2021. The event focused on the interesting aspects of Greece’s contemporary economic and banking history, with useful comparisons and parallelisms between the past and the present during a period of contemplation, especially now in the vortex of the covid-19 pandemic.

You can watch the video here.

The Embassy of Greece in the United Kingdom celebrated the bicentennial of the 1821 Greek Revolution, 25 March 2021

The Embassy of Greece in the United Kingdom celebrated the bicentennial of the 1821 Greek Revolution and the Greek War of Independence with an original audio-visual project. Professor Kevin Featherstone and Dr Spyros Economides were amongst the British and Greek scholars and distinguished personalities of the Greek diaspora who participated in this commemorative production aiming to honour the Bicentenary.

You can watch the video on the Embassy's Facebook page or YouTube channel.

'Professor Kevin Featherstone at the round table '40 years of Greece's EU membership: An historical perspective on accession four decades on'

Professor Kevin Featherstone participated in this EU history roundtable, organised jointly between the EPRS and EP Former Members Association on Tuesday 23 March 2021. The speakers looked back at the process of Greece's accession, starting with the country's democratisation in 1974, reflected on some of the key moments of membership over the last four decades, and examined how both Greece and the EU have changed over that period.

The Oxford Handbook of Modern Greek Politics
An interview with the editors 

Ahead of the book launch on 25 May 2021, editors Kevin Featherstone and Dimitri A. Sotiropoulos gave an interview on this volume that provides an overview of modern Greek politics, from the restoration of democracy in 1974 to the present day.

You can read the interview here.

Professor Kevin Featherstone will be bestowed the award of Grand Commander, Order of the Phoenix of the Hellenic Republic, 22 March 2021

Professor Featherstone is one of the 23 philhellenes around the world who will be awarded the medal, to celebrate the bicentenary of the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence. The list includes Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, John Kittmer, former UK Ambassador to Greece, Professor Paul Cartledge, Robin Lane Fox, renowned historian & author and Stephen Fry, famous British actor.

Dr Spyros Economides was in conversation with Nikos Dendias, Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs

Dr Spyros Economides was in conversation with Nikos Dendias, Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs at the LSESU Hellenic Society Conference 'Greece 2021: Reflecting On Yesterday, Shaping Tomorrow', on 6 March 2021

Dr Spyros Economides at the 16th Cyprus Summit Europe: Putting solidarity to the test – Cyprus: In need of a new growth model?, 10 December 2020

Dr Spyros Economides participated in the panel discussion 'Efforts for Peace and Stability at the Crossroads of Three Continents' with Charalambos Petrides, Minister of Defence, Cyprus and Thanos Dokos, National Security Adviser to the Prime Minister, Greece.

You can watch the Panel Discussion here.

Letter to the Editor of The Times, 17 August 2020

Professor Kevin Featherstone and another 24 prominent academics and authors calling for Erdogan to respect international law (UNCLOS) with respect to energy explorations in the Eastern Mediterranean and urging European Governments, including Britain's to offer ‘clear message of support’ to Greece and Cyprus.

Full text available at The Times and Kathimerini.  

Professor Kevin Featherstone joined the Council of the Anglo-Hellenic League, 29 May 2020

Professor Kevin Featherstone has been appointed a member of the Council of the Anglo-Hellenic League, under the Council's co-option procedure. The League is dedicated to promoting Anglo-Greek understanding and friendship, the League has a long history of charitable and cultural work.

Dame Minouche Shafik, LSE Director in Cyprus, 28 February 2020

Following her Athens Lecture, Dame Minouche Shafik, travelled to Cyprus where the Cyprus LSE Alumni Association hosted a conversation with the LSE Director and the former Minister of Finance and LSE alumnus, Michalis Sarris.

The Hellenic Alumni Association of LSE reception with Dame Minouche Shafik, LSE Director

The Hellenic Alumni Association hosted an alumni reception in honour of Dame Minouche Shafik on Thursday 27 February 2020 in Athens. The LSE Director gave a  small speech and then had the opportunity to meet and talk with the alumni. The reception took place before the Athens lecture in which Dame Minouche Shafik was 'in conversation' with Mr Costas P. Michaelides.  

Dame Minouche Shafik, LSE Director, in Athens for the event 'Dame Minouche Shafik in Conversation with Mr Costas P. Michaelides: Where is the world economy going and what can we do about it?', 27 February 2020

Dame Minouche Shafik visited Athens as she was the main speaker at the Athens Lecture 'Dame Minouche Shafik in Conversation with Mr Costas P. Michaelides: Where is the world economy going and what can we do about it?' on Thursday 27 February 2020. The event was organised by the Hellenic Observatory in collaboration with the National Bank of Greece and with the support of the LSE Hellenic Alumni Association.

Dame Minouche Shafik, LSE Director and Kostas Bakoyannis, Mayor of Athens signed an MoU between LSE and the Municipality of Athens, 26 February 2020 

The collaboration of the Municipality of Athens with the London School of Economics and Political Science, that was supported and facilitated by the Hellenic Observatory was officially launched with Dame Minouche Shafik, LSE Director and Kostas Bakoyannis, Mayor of Athens signing the MoU that initiates the 'Athens Urban-Age Task Force'.
This is part of a series of such task-forces focused on major cities around the globe, helping city governments to deliver sustainable urban change ‘on the ground’. The Athens Urban-Age Task Force will run for 18 months and Professor Ricky Burdett, Professor of Urban Studies & Director of LSE Cities and Urban Age will act as technical manager.

Dr Vassilis Monastiriotis at the Conference ‘Greece: A New Paradigm?’, 22 February 2020

Dr Vassilis Monastiriotis, Associate Professor of Political Economy, LSE spoke at the Conference ‘Greece: A New Paradigm?’ organised by the  LSE SU Hellenic Society on Saturday 22 February 2020.

Dr Spyros Economides at the Eurobank Private Bank Luxembourg 3rd Thought Leadership Event on “Britain’s post-Brexit identity” in London, 4 February 2020

Dr Spyros Economides, Associate Professor of International Relations and European Politics, LSE and Hellenic Observatory Deputy Director was invited as the main speaker at the Eurobank Private Bank Luxembourg 3rd Thought Leadership Event on “Britain’s post-Brexit identity” in London, hosted by EPBL’s CEO Konstantinos(Kostas) Tsiveriotis. In his conversation with Η ΚΑΘΗΜΕΡΙΝΗ - KATHIMERINI EU correspondent Yannis Palaiologos, Dr Economides noted: “Brexit has resulted not only in the departure of the UK from the EU, but also in a significant change in the British political landscape and the UK’s position in the international arena.”

Dr Spyros Economides at Avenir Suisse's The Future of Transnational Security on the European Continent, 16-17 January 2020

Dr Spyros Economides, Associate Professor of International Relations and European Politics, LSE and Hellenic Observatory Deputy Director delivered a presentation on 'The Culture of European Security' at Avenir Suisse's Fourth annual Think Tank Summit The Future of Transnational Security on the European Continent.

Dr Spyros Economides at The Economist’s Second Eastmed-London Investment Summit, 3 December 2019

Dr Spyros Economides, Associate Professor of International Relations and European Politics, LSE and Hellenic Observatory Deputy Director spoke at The Economist’s Second Eastmed-London Investment Summit on 'Brexit and Britain's Foreign Policy in the Eastern Mediterranean'.

The Hellenic Observatory at the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation in London, 13 November 2019 

Sir Stelios Haji-ioannou and the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation  hosted this year's  London School of Economics and Political Science - Stelios Scholars Reunion with guests from the Hellenic Observatory, LSE. Inspiring speeches from Sir Stelios Haji-ioannou, LSE Director Dame Minouche Shafik, Professor Kevin Featherstone & alumni Slava Polonski. 

Report: Feminization of occupations and its effect on gender wage gap in South Mediterranean Countries

Dr Vassilis Monastiriotis has collaborated on a report under the EU-FEMISE project, exploring how traditional cultural-economic roles played by women in the MENA region impact gender equality in the labour market, and the implications of this.

Kevin Featherstone at the 8th Thessaloniki International Symposium in World Affairs, 20 October 2019

Kevin Featherstone delivered a speech on the 'Governing amidst ungovernability: the case of BREXIT’ at the 8th Thessaloniki International Symposium in World Affairs on 20 October 2019. 

Kevin Featherstone at the Hippocratic Oration and Dinner, 12 October 2019

Kevin Featherstone gave the after-dinner speech at the annual dinner of the Hellenic Medical Society UK, on 12 October 2019. Here he is receiving an award for ‘his lifetime commitment to Hellenism’. 

Kevin Featherstone at the KPMG 18 CFO Forum, 13 June 2019

Kevin Featherstone delivered a keynote speech at the KPMG 18th CEO Forum in Athens on 13 June 2019 titled 'Opportunities & Challenges for Greece in a Changing European Union'.

Vassilis Monastiriotis at the University of Macedonia, 9 May 2019

Vassilis Monastiriotis gave a seminar at the University of Macedonia, Department of Balkan, Slavic & Oriental Studies on 9 May 2019, presenting his recent paper (with Fatmir Besimi) titled “The role of EU integration in accelerating structural reforms in the Western Balkans: evidence, theory and policy”.

Vassilis Monastiriotis at the 3rd International Conference of the Economic Chamber of Greece, 9 May 2019

Vassilis Monastiriotis participated at the 3rd International Conference of the Economic Chamber of Greece, moderating a panel on “Implementation of reforms as a precursor to facilitate market access” with Chris Allen (European Commission), Peter Dohlman (IMF), Michael Haliassos (Frankfurt) and Zsolt Darvas (Bruegel). The conference was held at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens on 9 May 2019 and hosted high-level participants including the Deputy Prime Minister Mr Yiannis Dragasakis, the leader of the opposition Mr Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the U.S. Ambassador to the Hellenic Republic Mr Geoffrey Pyatt, and others. 

Greece and the Euro: From Crisis to Recovery, 12 April 2019

On 12 April 2019, The Karamanlis Chair in Hellenic and European Studies at the Fletcher School, Tufts and the Hellenic Observatory organised a conference on 'Greece and the Euro: From Crisis to Recovery'. The purpose of the conference was to assess the causes of the Gree crisis and the prospects for the Greek Economy after the conclusion of the economic adjustment programmes in 2018.

The papers presented in the conference, and the discussions around them, will be published in a special volume of the conference proceedings in both English and Greek.

Dr Ioannis Laliotis' new publication, 27 March 2019

On 27 March 2019 , Dr Ioannis Laliotis & Dr Nicholas Giannakopoulos published a paper on Industrial Relations Reform, Firm‐Level Bargaining and Nominal Wage Floors where they investigate the impact of the 2011 industrial relations reform in Greece that made firms with less than 50 employees eligible to participate to firm‐level bargaining. 

Dr Vassilis Monastiriotis' new appointment, March 2019

On March 2019 Dr Vassilis Monastiriotis has been appointed in the Editorial Board of Investigaciones Regionales – Journal of Regional Research, published by the Spanish Association of Regional Science.

New publication by Dr Vassilis Monastiriotis, 14 March 2019

On 14 March 2019 Dr Vassilis Monastiriotis published a paper with Corrado Macchiarelli and Nikolitsa Lampropoulou on Comparative Economic Studies titled 'Transition Dynamics in European Labour Markets During Crisis and Recovery'. The piece is offering a detailed examination of the transitional dynamics underpinning changes in employment, unemployment and inactivity across the EU member states during the long period from before the crisis until the recent recovery (2004–2016). 

Dr Philipp Katsinas published a new paper, 3 March 2019

On 3 March 2019 Dr Philipp Katsinas published a paper on 'The international face of Thessaloniki: The “Greek crisis,” the entrepreneurial mayor, and mainstream media discourses'. In this piece he argues that the serial repetition of positive images contributed to Thessaloniki being perceived as an example to be followed by other Greek local governments and the central state, acting as a best practice example for transformations envisioned on wider scales. The paper contributes to place‐branding debates by illustrating the important role of international media in the dissemination of place brands, and by analysing how media representations of place may serve the legitimation of processes of neoliberalisation on scales wider than the concrete urban setting where they occur. 

HO Staff at the Delphi Economic Forum, 28/2-3/3 2019

On 28 February –3 March 2019 Professor Kevin Featherstone, Dr Spyros Economides and Dr Vassilis Monastiriotis participated in the Delphi Economic Forum IV that took place in Delphi, Greece. During the four-day international conference, Professor Kevin Featherstone chaired two sessions: ‘Brexit’ and ‘What’s next for the Eurozone’ and was a key speaker at ‘ Greece and the European Union: Renewing the vows’ and ‘The road to Sibiu and beyond’. Dr Spyros Economides was a key speaker at the session ‘Defence and Economy’ and Dr Vassilis Monastiriotis was a speaker at the session ‘A national plan for economic recovery’.

Dr Vassilis Monastiriotis and the New Minimum Wage in Greece, February 2019

On February 2019 Dr Vassilis Monastiriotis was appointed to the Committee of Experts advising the Greek government on the setting of the new minimum wage in Greece. The Committee, studied a number of aspects of wage setting and employment dynamics in the Greek labour market and submitted its report to the government in late December 2018, recommending a sizeable increase in the minimum wage, partly reversing the reduction implemented in 2012 under Greece's Adjustment Programme. The recommendations were taking into account by the Ministry and the new level (which saw an 11% increase) became effective in February 2019. 

New publication by Professor Kevin Featherstone and Michael Cottakis, 4 February 2019

Kevin Featherstone & Michael Cottakis, published a piece on Capacity or Culture? Assessing their significance for the divergence in the fulfilment of common EU obligations by member states, Dahrendorf Forum, 4 February 2019.  

Dr Ioannis Laliotis co-investigator in research programme

Dr Ioannis Laliotis became the co-investigator in a research programme entitled as “Retention of the clinical and ambulance workforce in English NHS hospitals: Variations, trends and effects on patient outcomes”. It is part of the prestigious Efficiency Research Progamme of The Health Foundation that recently offered £1.8 million to innovative research ideas on health and social care provision in the UK. After an immensely competitive process, three experienced research teams were chosen to complete their work within the next 3-5 years.

Professor Featherstone at the LSE Continental Breakfast

On 6th November 2018 Professor Featherstone was in Madrid to take part in the LSE Continental Breakfast discussion over The Brexit outcome, and why the EU will insist that ‘Brexit means Brexit’. 

Dr Ioannis Laliotis publishe a new piece

On October 2018 Dr Ioannis Laliotis & Dr Charitini Stavropoulou published a piece on Crises and mortality: Does the level of unemployment matter? reviewing whether mortality responds non-linearly and asymmetrically to unemployment in the context of national economic crises. 

Professor Featherstone at the LSE Alumni Association in Brussels

Professor Featherstone spoke to the LSE Alumni Association in Brussels on 9th October, updating them on developments at LSE and giving his assessment of the Brexit negotiations so far. His co-speaker was Margaritis Schinas, Chief Spokesman of the EU Commission. On 19th October he commented on the future of Anglo-Greek relations after ‘Brexit’ to an audience of policy-makers and officials at Ditchley Park, UK. 

Professor Kevin Featherstone in the 2nd International Conference on Europe in Discourse: Agendas of Reform

Professor Kevin Featherstone participated in the 2nd International Conference on Europe in Discourse: Agendas of Reform, September 21st - 23rd, 2018 in Athens. He spoke on ‘Completing the EMU’ proposing that a new agenda of the European Union could perhaps involve a shift towards a more federalist model that would further deepen the integration. He also acted as a discussant at a panel on 'Greece and the EU' sharing his views with the panellists George Katrougalos, Alternate Foreign Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kostis Hatzidakis, Vice President, New Democracy party and Anna Diamantopoulou, President of DIKTIO" Network for Reform in Greece and Europe.