Prokopis Pavlopoulos, the president of Greece who has has been in office since the 13th of March in 2015.He has quite the political career as he has previously served as the minister of interior from the years 2004 to 2009 and was also secretary to Michail Stasinopoulos in 1974. Notable allies of Greece include Germany, France, United States of America, Russia, Bulgaria Etc.
The diplomatic relations Prokopis has maintained with the mentioned countries are quite moral. Opposing countries include Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. The relations are strained because these countries had refused to help relocate 160,000 migrant refugees and relieve pressure on Greece and Italy, therefore, declining to offer aid to both countries in terms of the refugees and going against orders of the European Commission. Denoting to Greece’s stance, Prokopis reiterated that “Greece, all Greek people have proved that, faithful to the heritage of the Ancient Greek Spirit and culture, we have faced, we are facing and will face the refugees according to the aforementioned fundamental European principles and values of humanism and solidarity.” He emphasized that the rest of our EU partners should adopt the same behavior as well as third countries aspiring to join the European family. (E.
Tsiliopoulos, 2016) Aside from that, he has providentially been very active in terms of offering aid and sanctuary to the innocent civilians affected by war, most of which are refugees from Syria; due to the conflict which has been ongoing for over half a decade now. He has been very substantial and has hosted thousands of refugees and has allowed for Greece to become a transit for refugees who hope to relocate elsewhere. The shores of Greece have been a gateway or transit for over 856,000 refugees.
As for the issue of human trafficking, the president is fully aware that Greece has, unfortunately, become a transit for women and children subjected to human trafficking. The government which includes Prokopis has made strong advancements in prosecuting labor and sex trafficking felonies, categorizing victims, implementing a child victim protection agreement with Albania, and progressing prevention actions. Apprehensions remain about trafficking-related police involvement, scarce victim identification among the Hellenic Coast Guard, border police, and vice police, as well as inadequate funding for anti-trafficking NGOs. Unfortunately for Greece, it has not been able to do much for human trafficking victims or the issue in general because of the economic crisis there which has caused strains in efforts to reduce and prevent human trafficking. However, it was still sufficiently, distinctly and in collaboration with global organizations and NGOs training law execution, immigration officers, social service workers, labor inspectors, and health workers on identifying trafficking victims, including potential victims among refugees and migrants.
