George Papandreou

As befits a former Prime Minister, George Papandreou has a calm, informed, authoritative and educated style of delivery. Having lived and been educated in the U.S his English is excellent.

Papandreou served as Greek Prime Minister from 2009 to 2011 and as a result can speak with authority on the parlous state of the Eurozone and the future of the European Union. He has won numerous awards for his efforts to promote peace and democracy.

George Papandreou’s Background

George is part of the Papandreou political dynasty: his grandfather, Georgios, and father, Andreas, both served as Greek Prime Ministers in the 20th century. He was educated in Greece and in the US and Sweden and is a graduate of Amerhest College in the U.S and the London School of Economics. He is a fellow of Harvard Universitys Center for International Affairs.

After completing his education Papandreou returned to Greece in 1974, after the restoration of democracy, and joined the PASOK political party that his father had founded. He became an MP in 1981 and served in his Fathers Government most notably as Minister for Education and Minister for Foreign Affairs. In both posts he was recognized for his efforts to build cultural bridges, promote human rights and seek to solve international disputes specifically with Turkey.

In 2004 Papandreou became leader of PASOK and in 2009, under his leadership, his party won the Greek election and took power. After leaving office he was re-elected to the role of President of the Socialist International.