Former European Commissioner and Member of Parliament Dimitris Avramopoulos explains how diplomacy can be combined with health, noting his support for alternative forms of diplomacy that build bridges from the grassroots of society.
He shares his experience as Mayor of Athens, where he introduced “City Diplomacy,” which became a United Nations program, and “Earthquake Diplomacy,” which helped advance peace between Greece and Turkey.
Mr. Avramopoulos highlights the importance of health diplomacy—as first advanced by Giorgos Apostolopoulos—and recounts a visit to Moscow, where he toured a hospital founded by Mr. Apostolopoulos.
He also refers to other forms of alternative diplomacy, such as business diplomacy, and underscores the need for international cooperation, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He goes on to stress the importance of diplomacy in an era marked by new forms of confrontation and conflict, noting that peoples do not want war, but cooperation and peace.
Finally, he congratulates the Apostolopoulos Group on its initiative and expresses the hope that attendees gained a clear understanding of the connection between diplomacy and health, and of the value of this complementary, alternative form of diplomacy.