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helps us to adapt to the multi- Q: I presume that, coming HRC will be in the frontline in
faceted changes of the 21st Cen- from a minority yourself, you combating such phenomena and
tury. Geneva, in a sense, is the city are in a better position to do upholding democratic values, hu-
of peace where the international something about it. man rights and tolerance. What
community united can cope better we want to see is respect for each
with the many pressing situations Perhaps my background served as other, universality and political
and challenges around the world. a catalyst to being more aware of stability, with the ultimate goal to
human rights issues. It is encou- build a more prosperous and viable
Q: What kind of personal sa- raging that today the international socio-economic environment.
tisfaction does it give you to community is more focused and
work with the migrant/refu- pays more attention to the spe- Q: What are the areas that
gees issues? cial needs of vulnerable groups. It most require your attention,
would be wrong, however, to paint both as Greek ambassador
Way back in 1976, when I decided a rosy picture or become com- and as the ambassador of a
as a young university student to placent. All countries must remain European Union country?
write my Ph.D. thesis on mino- vigilant and pro-active, since, un-
rity issues, my supervising pro- fortunately, vulnerable groups, all They are many and they are mul-
fessor warned me that in the field over the world, continue to suffer tifaceted. Each moment of my
of international law on minori- or are treated unjustly. The toll day is devoted to one of the major
ties there was not enough mate- in wars for such groups is parti- organizations. Let's take for ins-
rial to work on. At that time, cularly high. Civil strife, turmoil, tance the WTO. In Bali (9th Mi-
there were but a few major inter- terrorist attacks are happening in nisterial Conference of the WTO)
national conventions in this field. far too many places in the world. a historic agreement was signed
"So," he asked me, "what kind of A few days ago was the Holocaust with tremendous economic signi-
Ph.D. are you really going to work Memorial Day, which remains a ficance for the credibility of multi-
on?" Today, hundreds of treaties huge black stain on human his- lateral trading system and ultima-
and texts exist on the protection tory. Although now we are more tely for the improvement of the
and promotion of human rights. aware of genocides, grave human lives of millions of people around
What does this mean? That at the rights violations continue, unfor- the world. At the WTO we are
very least, the international com- tunately, to take place in a large now trying to implement the Bali
munity has become more vigilant scale even today. Look at what is package which ushers in deep and
and much more sensitive in uphol- happening in Syria or in the Cen- far-reaching reforms.
ding the respect and the universa- tral African Republic, etc...
lity of human rights. For instance, The ILO is another area deman-
in the coming March session of Q: What we see in Europe to- ding our attention because three
the Council of Human Rights we day is that right-wing policies different constituencies are wor-
are going to focus on a wide range are gaining ground and they king together —employers, em-
of items including the rights of often choose minorities as a ployees and governments. There
the child, issues of racism, pre- target. Are there any discus- has to be a social contract. We have
vention of genocide, protection of sions in the Human Rights to work together in harmony, crea-
human rights defenders as well as Council to oppose this trend? ting synergies and cooperation.
country situations (Syria, Myan- Invaluable work is done in WHO,
mar, DPRK, etc...). It goes without saying. There affecting the wellbeing of millions
is an ongoing discussion in the of people globally. Equally signifi-
In short, being part of an inter- HRC concerning the protection of cant and all encompassing is the
national organization that adopts minority rights in a world hit by humanitarian work accomplished
and implements the universal prin- economic crisis, where unemploy- by the Red Cross.
ciples of human rights is a deman- ment and xenophobia are sadly
ding but at the same time reward- on the rise. In the case of Europe, Q: Greece is holding the Presi-
ing professional task. Respect of including my own country, we dency of the European Union.
human life and human dignity, see a trend of increasing popu- Does this mean that you have
regardless of religion, ethnicity, lism and euro-scepticism. An more work now than you had
race, gender empowerment, sexual unstable economic and financial before?
orientation, are some of the crucial environment favours the streng-
topics that we focus on. Needless thening of extreme right-wing Greece is assuming, for the fifth
to say that it is enormously gra- ideologies preaching intolerance time, the rotating Presidency of the
tifying to work in an environment and racism. Once again, the inter- European Council on January 1,
which upholds the principles of national community and inter- for a six-month period. The addi-
the Charter of the United Nations. national organizations such as tional workload and increased

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