Georgios Katrougalos

Georgios Katrougalos
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
15 February 2019 – 8 July 2019
Prime MinisterAlexis Tsipras
Preceded byAlexis Tsipras
Succeeded byNikos Dendias
Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
5 November 2016 – 15 February 2019
Preceded byNikos Xydakis
Succeeded bySia Anagnostopoulou
Minister of Labour, Social Insurance and Social Solidarity
In office
23 September 2015 – 5 November 2016
Preceded byDimitris Moustakas
Succeeded byEffie Achtsioglou
In office
17 July 2015 – 28 August 2015
Preceded byPanos Skourletis
Succeeded byDimitris Moustakas
Alternate Minister of Interior and Administrative Reconstruction
In office
27 January 2015 – 17 July 2015
Preceded byKyriakos Mitsotakis
Succeeded byCristoforos Vernardakis
Member of the European Parliament for Greece
In office
1 July 2014 – 26 January 2015
Personal details
Born27 March 1963 (1963-03-27) (age 61)
Athens, Greece
Political partySyriza
EducationNational and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Pantheon-Sorbonne University
OccupationLawyer

Georgios Katrougalos (Greek: Γιώργος Κατρούγκαλος; born 27 March 1963) is a Greek jurist and politician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from February to July 2019. He is currently (since 5 April 2024) UN Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order.[1] He previously served as an Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs from 5 November 2016 to 15 February 2019, as the Minister of Labour and Social Solidarity from 23 September 2015 to 5 November 2016 and from 18 July 2015 to 28 August 2015. From 27 January 2015 to 17 July 2015 he served as an Alternate Minister of Interior and Administrative Reconstruction in Tsipras's first cabinet.


Education

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Katrougalos studied Law from 1980 to 1985 at National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and continued his research studies (P.h.D) in Administrative and Constitutional Law at Pantheon-Sorbonne University (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne). In 1990 he was awarded a P.h.D. with “Honors”. His doctoral thesis is entitled « The legitimacy crisis of Public Administration – The case of Greece». He is a member of Athens Bar Association since 1987.[2]

Professional and Academic career

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In 1994, and again from 1997 to 2002, Katrougalos was legal advisor at the Ministry of Education. Meanwhile, he lectured and conducted research as visiting professor at University Roskilde in Denmark and National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Athens Law School). From 1997 he is a member of the Board of the Centre for European Constitutional Law. From 1998 to 2011, he was accredited as mediator and arbitrator at the Greek Organization for Mediation and Arbitration. From 2000 to 2003, he was advisor to the Greek Permanent Mission to the United Nations (for the works of the 3rd Committee of the UN General Assembly). In 2002, he was appointed Professor of Public Law at Democritus University of Thrace, where he was also President of the Department of Political Sciences and Social Administration. From 2003 to 2004, he was a member of an experts' committee in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs working on the drafting of the European Constitution. Katrougalos has also worked as advisor for law reforms in Uzbekistan, Albania, North Macedonia, Syria and Armenia. He has taught or given lectures as invited speaker at, among others, NYU, Columbia University, Humboldt University, Roskilde University, LSE, Oxford (St Antony's College), New Delhi Law School. He has published many books and articles in Greek, English, French, Russian and Spanish periodicals.

Political career

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Katrougalos was active at the students' movement in Greece. As a constitutional expert and professor[3] he was involved in a number of public interest litigation, especially regarding social rights, as well as privacy rights under the threat of public surveillance systems. During the economic crisis of 2010 he sharply criticized the austerity policies dictated by the IMF, with scientific articles,[4][5][6] public action at national and European courts.[7] He has actively participated at the civil movement of the so-called in Greece "struggle of the squares".[8]

At the European elections of 2014, Katrougalos was elected as a member of the European Parliament with SYRIZA party. At the EU Parliament was a member of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left European Parliamentary Group (GUE/NGL) and the Coordinator of the Group of European Left at the Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO) When SYRIZA won the elections of January 2015, Katrougalos was appointed Alternate Minister of Interior and Administrative Reform. From 23 September 2015 to 5 November 2016 and from 18 July 2015 to 28 August 2015 he served as Minister for Labour and Social Solidarity. He has designed the pensions reform, which has unified the highly fragmented system of Greek Social Security.

From 5 November 2016 to 15 February 2019 he served as an Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs[9][10] and from 15 February 2019 to 8 July 2019 he served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs.[11][12] He has supported the ratification of Prespa Agreement at the Hellenic Parliament.[13]

He has been elected for the first time member of the Hellenic Parliament at the elections of September 2015 and reelected at the elections of July 2019. In the May 2023 election, he withdrew from the election battle three days before the election due to a statement he made regarding the 2016 insurance reform. He is, since 2019, Vice Chair of the Group of the United European Left at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe[14] (PACE) and since 2021 President of the Sub-committee on the Middle East and the Arab World of PACE.[15] In March 2022 he has been unanimously elected President of the Group.

As minister of Foreign Affairs he has initiated the strategic dialogue of Greece with the USA,[16] but he is also a proponent of the strategic autonomy of the European Foreign Policy and Defense  vis-à-vis NATO. He is Honorary Fellow of the Foreign Policy Association

Family

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Katrougalos is married and has two daughters.

Works (selection)

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  • Ανισότητες και Δίκαιο, Alexandria, Athens, 2014.
  • The (Dim) Perspectives of the European Social Citizenship. Jean Monnet Working Paper Nr. 05/07, NYU School of Law, New York 2007.
  • Southern European welfare states. Problems, challenges and prospects. (with G. Lazaridis.) Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.
  • Constitution, Law and Rights in the Welfare State ... and beyond, first edition Forlaget Samfundsokonomi & Plaenlaegning, Roskilde, 1995, second edition A. Sakkoulas, Athens, 1998,
  • The South European Welfare Model. The Greek Welfare State, in Search of an Identity. In: Journal of European Social Policy February, Band 6, Nr. 1, 1996, S. 39–60.

References

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  1. ^ United Nations Human Rights Council. "Appointments at the 55th session of the Human Rights Council".
  2. ^ "George Katrougalos | Democritus University of Thrace - Academia.edu". duth.academia.edu. Retrieved 2019-12-15.
  3. ^ "Who Is Who in the New Greek Government". GreekReporter.com. 2015-02-01. Retrieved 2022-02-22.
  4. ^ "Το "παρασύνταγμα" του μνημονίου και ο άλλος δρόμος". constitutionalism.gr. 2011-03-22. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  5. ^ "Memoranda sunt Servanda? H συνταγματικότητα του νόμου 3845/2010 και του μνημονίου για τα μέτρα εφαρμογής των συμφωνιών με ΔΝΤ, ΕΕ και ΕΚΤ". constitutionalism.gr. 2010-09-21. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  6. ^ ""Μνημονιακές" πολιτικές και Εργατικό Δίκαιο". contramee (in Greek). 2012-03-27. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  7. ^ "ΕΝΗΜΕΡΩΣΗ" (PDF). ΠΕΡΙΟΔΙΚΗ ΕΚΔΟΣΗ ΤΟΥ ΙΝΕ/ΓΣΕΕ. July/August 2018. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
  8. ^ analitis.gr. "Κατρούγκαλος, Τσακαλώτος, Βαρουφάκης εξηγούν πώς θα βγούμε απ' την κρίση 4 χρόνια πριν γίνουν υπουργοί (vid)". analitis.gr (in Greek). Archived from the original on 2017-04-09. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  9. ^ "Georgios Katrougalos, Greece official, says U.S. relations hit high point". AP NEWS. 2018-12-17. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
  10. ^ "Q&A with envoy: Greece envisions leadership as strong geopolitical bridge". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
  11. ^ Barigazzi, Jacopo (2019-05-16). "Greek foreign minister: EU should keep door open for Turkey". POLITICO. Retrieved 2020-04-01.
  12. ^ Kefalas, Alexia (2019-04-24). "Georgios Katrougalos: "Il est nécessaire que l'Europe ait une défense commune"". Le Figaro.fr (in French). Retrieved 2020-04-01.
  13. ^ Team, ΤοΒΗΜΑ (2019-01-25). "Greek Parliament in historic vote ratifies Prespa Agreement". Ειδήσεις - νέα - Το Βήμα Online (in Greek). Retrieved 2021-06-07.
  14. ^ "Unified European Left Group – at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe".
  15. ^ "PACE - Assembly Members". Archived from the original on 2020-12-18. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  16. ^ "U.S.-Greece Strategic Dialogue Αρχεία". U.S. Embassy & Consulate in Greece. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
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Political offices
Preceded by Greek Minister for Labour and Social Solidarity
17 July – 28 August 2015 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Greek Minister for Labour and Social Solidarity
23 September 2015 – 5 November 2016 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs
5 November 2016 – 15 February 2019 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Foreign Affairs
15 February – 8 July 2019 		Succeeded by
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