[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 94 (Friday, May 28, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E586]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                IN RECOGNITION OF DORA BAKOYANNIS, M.P.

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 28, 2021

  Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York. Madam Speaker, I rise to pay 
tribute to Dora Bakoyannis for her outstanding career promoting peace 
and human rights. Ms. Bakoyannis is the Former Minister of Foreign 
Affairs of Greece and Former Mayor of Athens. Recently, Ms. Bakoyannis 
was elected Vice President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council 
of Europe (PACE). Ms. Bakoyannis was named Woman of the Year by the 
Euro-American Women's Council.
  Dora Bakoyannis studied Political Science and Communication at the 
Ludwig Maximillian University of Munich and continued her studies in 
Political Science and Public Law at the University of Athens.
  Ms. Bakoyannis led the fight against terrorism in Greece and abroad, 
participating in various legislative initiatives, international 
conferences, and forums such as the United Nations (UN) and the Council 
of Europe. Her work was inspired by tragedy, as Ms. Bakoyannis lost her 
husband Pavlas, a journalist and member of the Greek Parliament, to a 
terrorist assassination on September 26, 1989.
  Ms. Bakoyannis is a member of the Greek Parliament and has been 
consecutively elected since 1989. From 1990 to 1992 she served as the 
Under-Secretary of State and from 1992 to 1993 as Minister of Culture.
  Ms. Bakoyannis has been an inspiration to women all over the world. 
She was the first woman mayor of Athens, serving from 2002 to 2006, and 
the first woman appointed Greek Foreign Minister, serving from 2006-
2009. In 2003, she was awarded the International Leadership Award by 
the International Centre for Women. She was also voted ``World Mayor'' 
in 2005, included on the Forbes list of the World's Most Powerful Women 
from 2006 to 2009, and elected as the first female Foreign Associate of 
the French Academy in Humanities and Political Sciences in 2009.
  Ms. Bakoyannis was also President of the U.N. Security Council in 
2006 and Chairperson in Office of the Organization for Security and 
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2009. In 2008, she was awarded the 
Emperor Maximillian Award by the State of Tyrol and the city of 
Innsbruck. In 2013, she became a Meritus Doctor of the European 
Polytechnic University of Bulgaria, for her work on southeastern 
European nations' path towards membership in the European Union. In the 
same year she was awarded the OSCE Medal for her work on NATO-Russia 
relations between Russia and North Atlantic Treaty Organization member 
states at the 2009 Corfu Summit.
  In 2019, Dors Bakoyannis became the Chairperson of the Greek 
Parliamentary Delegation to PACE, and, in January 2021, she was elected 
the council's Vice President. She also served as the PACE Rapporteur 
for the functioning of democratic institutions in Poland and currently 
serves as Rapporteur for the Syrian crisis. Ms. Bakoyannis is also a 
member of the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy, the 
Committee on the Honoring of Obligations and Commitments by Member 
States of the Council of Europe, the Bureau of the Assembly, and the 
Sub-Committee on External Relations.
  In addition to these accomplishments, Ms. Bakoyannis is Chairperson 
of the Cross-party Parliamentary Committee for the Development of 
Thrace, Chair of the American-Greek Parliamentary Friendship Committee, 
and member of the Russian-Greek and Chinese-Greek Parliamentary 
Friendship Committees. She is Chairperson of the Greek Parliamentary 
Delegation to the International Parliamentary Assembly of the 
Francophonie and is on the Board of Directors of the Brussels-based 
think tank, Centre for European Policy Studies. She lives in Athens and 
has two adult children. Ms. Bakoyannis is truly an inspirational 
example of the strength and competency of women at the highest levels 
of public service.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the 
accomplishments of Dora Bakoyannis and expressing appreciation for her 
dedication to the betterment of all people and especially for her 
diplomatic work on behalf of international amity.

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