Opening ceremony of the international conference entitled ‘100 Years Since the Treaty of Lausanne: Looking Back and Looking Ahead’

On Monday, 12 June 2023, in the presence of HE, the President of the Hellenic Republic, Ms Katerina Sakellaropoulou, took place at the Great Hall of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, the opening ceremony of the international conference entitled ‘100 Years Since the Treaty of Lausanne: Looking Back and Looking Ahead’.

HE the President of the Republic, Ms Katerina Sakellaropoulou, opened the conference with a welcome address.

For the full text of the address by Ms Katerina Sakellaropoulou, please click here: https://www.presidency.gr/chairetismos-stin-enarxi-toy-diethnoys-synedrioy-gia-ta-100-chronia-apo-ti-synthiki-tis-lozannis/

On his part, the Rector of NKUA, Professor Meletios-Athanasios C Dimopoulos, delivered the following address:

Your Excellency the President of the Hellenic Republic Ms Katerina Sakellaropoulou,

It is with great pleasure and honor that I welcome you to Athens and to the inaugural session of the international conference marking the centenary of the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne.

The conference, which is taking place under the auspices of Her Excellency, the President of the Hellenic Republic Ms Katerina Sakellaropoulou, has been organized jointly by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP). A joint effort indeed!

I am personally excited by the fact that the conference is based on an idea which originated from esteemed colleagues at the University of Athens who are also pillars of Greece’s leading think tank, ELIAMEP. And that, most importantly, this idea has been jointly implemented by ELIAMEP and the University of Athens.

Let me stress at this point that the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens has a tradition of honoring significant events in the history of modern Greece. Indeed, just last year, the University of Athens essayed a critical reflection on the “Catastrophe in Asia Minor” in 1922 through a series of symposia, conferences, and publications.

It would be unwise for a Professor of Medicine to refer to specific aspects of the Lausanne Treaty, not least when addressing such a distinguished audience of historians, international lawyers, and international relations experts.

Still, I cannot fail to acknowledge and highlight the importance and resilience of the Lausanne Treaty, which to represent to this day a durable instance of political innovation regarding borders, geopolitics, populations, minorities, and ideology.

It will now be up to the outstanding international line-up of speakers at this conference to enter into an in-depth, international, cross-disciplinary dialogue on the Treaty and its provisions, its relevance today, and its role in the evolution of relations between Greece and Turkey as well as the geopolitical balance in the wider region. Today and tomorrow, we shall have the opportunity to work through a well-structured and exciting agenda which revolves around the most interesting and rewarding aspects of the Lausanne Treaty.

The conference will conclude with two panels which will set out to examine the significance and relevance of the Lausanne Treaty today through the lenses of Greek and Turkish academics and diplomats who dare to ask what it will take to sustain the Lausanne legacy and make it the basis for a productive dialogue between Greece and Turkey.

We are proud and honored to have you here, and we are looking forward to discussing an issue of extreme importance for the future stability and growth of the Mediterranean region.

I sincerely hope you will enjoy today’s conference.

Once again, I would like to thank you all for your participation.

The Rector’s welcome address

The opening ceremony was also addressed by the President of the Board of the Hellenic Foundation of European and Foreign Policy, Professor Emeritus Loukas Tsoukalis.

The ceremony was also livestreamed:

The proceedings of the conference will take place on 12 and 13 June 2023. On 12 June 2023 they will be hosted by the ‘Alkis Argyriadis’ Amphitheatre (main building of the University of Athens).

The programme of the conference