Dimitris Kourkoulas
Head, Mediterranean Programme; Former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, former Ambassador of the EUDimitris Kourkoulas was the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, responsible for European Affairs and Economic Diplomacy, from June 2012 till January 2015. During his mandate he was also responsible for the Greek Presidency of the Council of Ministers of the EU in the first semester of 2014.
He has served as EU Ambassador in Lebanon (1997-2001), the first ambassador of the EU after the end of the war, Bulgaria (2001-2006), during the period of the negotiations for the accession of Bulgaria into the EU and Bosnia & Herzegovina (2006-2010), the third largest EU Delegation in the world.
From 2010-2012 he was Director in DG Enlargement of the European Commission, responsible for the EU strategy and policy of Enlargement in the Western Balkans, Turkey, and Iceland. From 1992 to 1997 he was Head of the European Commission’s Political Relations Department for Central and Eastern European countries.
He graduated from the Law School of the University of Athens and continued his postgraduate studies at the Universities of Bonn and Cologne in Germany.