THE GEOGRAPHY (Foreign Office UK)
Area: 131,990 sq km
Population: 10.94 million (2001 census
estimate)
Capital City: Athens (population
approximately 3.7 million)
People: 98% Greek with Muslim
minority comprising Turkic people,
Pomaks and Muslim Roma. NB: The
Greek government states there are no
other ethnic minorities in Greece.
Languages: Greek 99% (official),
English, French
Religions: Greek Orthodox 98%, Muslim
1.3%, other 0.7%
Currency: euro (EUR)
Major political parties: Panhellenic
Socialist Movement or PASOK PM
Costas Simitis; New Democracy or ND
(conservative) Party leader: Costas
Karamanlis; Coalition of the Left and
Progress (Synaspismos) Nikos
Constantopoulos; Communist Party of
Greece or KKE Aleka Papariga.
Government: Greece is a parliamentary
democracy. Universal direct suffrage
for those over the age of 18. Executive
power rests in the 300 member Greek
Parliament (Vouli). The centre-left
PASOK (Panhellenic Socialist
Movement) government has been in
power since 1993, and was narrowly
re-elected for another four-year
term in April 2000.
GEOGRAPHY
Southern Eastern Europe bordering
the Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea, and the
Mediterranean Sea. Shares borders to
the east with Turkey and to north with
the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia (FYROM), Bulgaria and
Albania. The climate is temperate -
mild, wet winters and hot, dry
summers.
THE HISTORY (Foreign Office UK)
The city states of classical Greece
bequeathed to Europe concepts of
political democracy and a high literary
culture which remained enormously
influential even after their subjugation
by Rome in 146 BC. When the Roman
Empire was divided, in 395 AD, the
Greek lands became part of the Empire
of the East whose capital,
Constantinople, was the greatest and
most sophisticated city of medieval
Europe. During the medieval perios,
relations between the Byzantine Empire
and Western Europe were soured by
religious dissent between the Latin and
Orthodox Churches which culminated in
the Great Schism of 1054, and by the
treacherous sack and occupation of
Constantinople in 1204 by Franks and
Venetians during the Fourth Crusade.
European states did little to help the
Byzantine Emperors defend their
territories against ever increasing
encroachment by the Turks, who
finally captured Constantinople in 1453.
Modern Greece, as an independent
national entity, came into being after a
protracted struggle against the
Ottoman Empire. This became a
popular cause in Western Europe, and
one of the so-called 'Philhellenes' who
fought for Greek liberty was the
English poet, Lord Byron, who died at
Missolonghi in western Greece in 1824.
Greek freedom fighters first
proclaimed Greek independence in
1822, but the Ottoman government
resisted this vigorously until after their
defeat at the Battle of Navarino in
1827, when Russia, England and France
combined to destroy the Ottoman navy.
In 1829 the Great Powers established a
Greek Kingdom which was finally
recognised as an independent state in
1830. Its territory was limited initially
to the Peloponnese and the area to the
south of the Gulf of Volo. During the
19th and early 20th centuries, as a
result of increasing Ottoman
weakness, Greece succeeded in greatly
extending its territory but had
difficulty in maintaining political and
financial stability, not helped by the
willingness of the Great Powers, which
had helped create it, to continue
meddling in its affairs.
For Greece the 20th century brought a
terrible catalogue of disasters. During
the First World War, Greece was at
first neutral but joined forces with the
Allies against the Axis Powers in 1917.
The Allied negotiation of a post war
peace settlement with the defeated
Ottoman Government offered Greece
an opportunity to claim more territory,
and she also sought to keep open the
future of Constantinople (Istanbul) by
making it an international city. But this
and other Allied plans for the
dismemberment of Anatolia aroused
fierce opposition among Turkish
nationalists, and they rejected the 1920
Peace Treaty of Sevres which would
have fulfilled almost all Greece's
nationalist aspirations. Greece had been
given Allied permission to occupy
Smyrna (modern Izmir) in May 1919
and its Army there now received
orders to advance into the interior to
attack the still badly organised Turkish
nationalist army commanded by
Mustafa Kemal (later known as
Ataturk).
What became known as the 'Asia Minor
disaster' convulsed Greek political life
for years after. In 1922 the Greek
army was defeated, Smyrna destroyed
and large numbers of Asia Minor
Greeks expelled from Turkey. In
Greece itself, there was an army coup.
Five political leaders and the
Commander in Chief of the Army were
tried and executed, and the King was
deposed. The territorial gains
envisaged for Greece in the Treaty of
Sevres were not confirmed by the
1923 Peace Treaty of Lausanne. The
simultaneous agreement that Turkey
and Greece should exchange their
respective minority populations added
some 1.3 million near-destitute
refugees to an existing Greek
population of only 5 million, and
excerbated Greece's chronic
economic problems. After ten years of
republicanism, the monarchy was
restored in 1935, but the King's
acceptance in 1936 of a fascist–type
dictatorship under General Metaxas
resulted in a damaging split between
monarchists and supporters of
parliamentary democracy.
The outbreak of World War Two
brought further misfortunes. The
Italians invaded Greece in October 1940
but met valiant resistance and were
thrown back into Albania. The Germans
followed, overrunning Greece in April
1941 and forcing the evacuation of
British defence forces in Greece.
From 1942, with British support and
participation, rival monarchist and
communist groups maintained a
guerrilla war against the Germans until
the liberation of Athens in October
1944. Full-scale civil war then broke
out in December 1944, lasting, with a
brief interval from January 1945 to
May 1946, until October 1949 when the
Communist forces were finally
defeated. Ordinary Greeks suffered
terrible privations and the bitter
left-right divisions created by this
conflict are still felt in Greek political
life today.
In 1947 the USA had pledged itself
under the Truman doctrine to support
Greek economic reconstruction, and to
prevent Greece from passing under
the control of the Soviet Union. Greece
joined NATO in 1952. A period of
relative political stability and economic
reconstruction followed, but in the
early sixties this gave way to rising
political tension. From July 1965 there
was a period of unstable governments
and intense political strife mainly
centring on the role and position of the
royal family, and culminating in April
1967 in a military coup followed by the
establishment of a military dictatorship.
In December 1967 King Constantine was
forced to leave Greece after an
unsuccessful counter-coup.
Civilian government was not restored
until July 1974, after the military junta
fell as a result of its unsuccessful coup
in Cyprus against President Makarios,
which prompted the Turkish invasion
of that island. The former Prime
Minister Constantine Karamanlis
returned from exile to form a
Government of National Unity and, in a
referendum of December 1974, the
Greek people voted against a return to
constitutional monarchy. A new
republican constitution was
promulgated in 1975. In January 1981
Greece became a full member of the
European Union, and continues to enjoy
political stability and rising economic
prosperity.
POLITICAL
Greece is a parliamentary democracy
based on the 1975 Constitution which
marked the passage from a seven year
military regime (1967-74) to
Parliamentary rule. The 1975
Constitution gave extensive powers to
Parliament and the Prime Minister but
left some authority with the President
of the Republic, especially at times of
government instability. It was revised in
1986 by former PM Papandreou, who
strengthened the position of Prime
Minister and Parliament.
From 1974 Greek political life was
dominated by Constantine Karamanlis
and Andreas Papandreou, who
personified not only the 'conservative'
and 'progressive' elements of the
political spectrum but also the opposite
ends of most of the major dilemmas
facing Greek society at the time
(joining the EEC, staying in NATO etc).
Karamanlis founded New Democracy,
the main Conservative Party (although
he retired from politics in 1985,
Karamanlis remained a key figure in
Greek politics until his death in April
1998). Papandreou founded PASOK
(Pan Hellenic Socialist Movement).
Since 1980 these two parties have
dominated the political scene,
alternating in power.
THE ECONOMY (Foreign Office UK)
Basic Economic Facts:
GDP: US$114 billion
GDP per head: US$11,405.6
Annual growth: real GDP 4.3% change
Inflation: 2.9% (annual % change)
Budget balance/GDP ratio: -1%
Major products/industries: tourism,
shipping, food and tobacco processing,
textiles, chemicals, metal products,
mining and petroleum products.
Major trading partners: Germany, Italy,
France, UK and USA.
Trade Partners UK country profile:
Greece
After entering the European single
economic area in January 2001,
economic reform remains high on the
government agenda. There are further
plans for market liberalisation and
reduced public spending. Identified
areas for reform include pensions,
social security and the civil service.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Greece's Relations with Neighbours
Greece joined NATO in 1952 and the EC
(now the EU) in 1981. The main thrust
of Greece's foreign policy in recent
years has been consolidating her
position in the EU, although Greece's
relations with her immediate
neighbours (the Balkans, Turkey and
Cyprus) often dominate her foreign
policy.
Turkey
Since Greece won her independence in
1827 from the Turkish Ottoman
Empire, the relationship between the
two neighbours has been troubled.
Festering disputes over rights to the
continental shelf, Aegean air and sea
space, and sovereignty over some
rocky islets in the Aegean persist.
There is also long-standing tension
over the treatment of the Greek
minority in Turkey and the Muslim
minority in Greece.
The situation has significantly
improved. From June/July 1999,
Foreign Minister George Papandreou
and his Turkish counterpart Ismail Cem
pursued an active policy of
rapprochement. This led to the signing
of nine bilateral agreements covering a
range of areas for cooperation eg
tourism and the environment. The
warmer atmosphere between the two
countries was facilitated by the
'earthquake diplomacy' when each in
turn suffered serious earthquakes in
late summer 1999. The better
relationship between Greece and
Turkey was a major factor in enabling
EU member states to award candidate
status (with a view to eventual EU
membership) to Turkey at the Helsinki
European Council in December 1999.
This put Turkey's relationship with
the EU and Greece on a new footing.
Greece supports the Copenhagen
Council decision in December 2002 on
Turkey.
Cyprus
The political situation in Cyprus has for
years exacerbated the tension between
Greece and Turkey. Achieving a
political settlement in Cyprus remains a
key concern of Greece's foreign
policy. The Greeks strongly support
the current UN-sponsored proximity
talks aimed at bringing a peaceful,
negotiated settlement to the island.
Cyprus' accession to the EU was
agreed at the December 2002
Copenhagen European Council.
The Balkans
Because of geography and traditional
trade links, Greece has a special
interest in the Balkans area, including
the former Yugoslavia. She is keen to
develop her role as a bridge between
the EU and the Balkans. Because of a
sense of fellowship with orthodox
Serbia, anti-Western sentiment for
historic reasons, fear of regional
instability and concern at the disruption
of economic and political ties with FRY,
there was strong popular opposition to
NATO action in Kosovo in the first half
of 1999. Communist-led demonstrations
especially in Thessaloniki, where NATO
troops disembarked, produced some
violent clashes. But the Greek
government steered a skilful path
between Greek public opinion and
Greece's commitments as an EU
member state and NATO ally.
Despite continued Greek sensitivities
over the use of the name
'Macedonia' (which is the name of a
region of Northern Greece), relations
with the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia (FYROM) have greatly
improved over recent years. Greek
companies have made major
investments in FYROM.
With an Albanian immigrant population
of approximately 600,000 now living in
Greece, and an indigenous though
declining Greek minority in Southern
Albania, ties between Greece and
Albania are close. Relations have
improved with exchanges of visit by
Prime Ministers and government
officials. A series of tripartite
meetings between the Prime Ministers
of Greece, Albania and FYROM,
introduced in the summer of 1999,
explored the possibilities of regional
cooperation and diffusing potential
tensions.
Greece's Relations with the UK
The UK and Greece enjoy a close
bilateral relationship. There is much
common ground between the two
countries, and a long historical
association. Shared membership of the
EU and NATO brings further
cooperation. Greece is an important
partner for the UK in the EU context.
We share a common determination to
press on with the sort of economic
reform which will promote growth and
create jobs, under the Lisbon /
Barcelona agenda.
The Greek and UK Government's
cooperation in the pursuit of the killers
of Brigadier Stephen Saunders,
former Defence Attache in Athens
killed by November 17 terrorist group
on his way to work on 8 June 2000,
has recently led to the arrest of
several suspects.
We are working together on unlocking
the potential for small businesses. On
19 November 2001 the Secretary of
State for Trade and Industry, Patricia
Hewitt, signed a Memorandum of
Understanding with the Greek Minister
of Development, Akis Tsohatzopoulos.
The memorandum looks forward to
cooperation in taking forward the
Small Firms Charter agreed at Feira in
June 2000. The report on the Charter
will be finalised during the Greek
Presidency in 2003.
The Parthenon Sculptures ('Elgin
Marbles')
The sculptures from the Parthenon
Temple in Athens were brought to
England in the 19th century by Lord
Elgin with the permission of the
Ottoman authorities, the recognised
legitimate authorities at the time. They
are housed on public display in the
British Museum. Successive
Government have considered the issue
of their return to Greece but have
determined that it was not within their
role to intervene.
In October 2002, Mr Simitis, the Greek
Prime Minister handed the British
Prime Minister Tony Blair a proposal
for a long-term loan of the sculptures.
Shortly afterwards, the Greek Culture
Minister met Museum officials to
discuss the issue. They explained that
they were unable to agree to any such
loan, but were willing to consider loans
of other items. The Greek Culture
Minister also met the DCMS Secretary
of State who confirmed that the
British Museum was independent of the
Government, that the matter was for
the Trustees of the Museum, and that
the Musueum's legal position was
sound.
Mr Blair subsequently replied to Mr
Simitis's proposal confirming that the
issue of a loan of the sculptures was
for the Trustees of the British
Museum.
Diplomatic Representation
UK representation to Greece
Greek represetation to the UK
Trade and Investment with the UK
Total UK exports to Greece in 1999 -
£1.116 billion
Total UK imports from Greece in 1999
- £387 million
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