On October 24 MSU administration, instructors and Greek Philology Faculty students met with Dimitris Papandreou, Consul General of the Hellenic Republic to Mariupol, whose diplomatic mission in our city is to be over shortly.

The meeting was opened by Kostyantyn Balabanov, Rector of MSU, Professor and Honorary Consul of the Republic of Cyprus in Mariupol, who noted the high professionalism of his colleague as well as his dedicated work and valuable results that have been achieved for three years of joint cooperation for the sake of strengthening friendship between Ukrainian and Greek nations.

In 2011 Dimitris Papandreou first met with the teaching stuff and students of Mariupol State University. For MSU, which was recognized as the leading centre of revival of Hellenic culture in Ukraine, it was the beginning of cooperation with Greece – a friendly country that always supported MSU since the day when it was found and also the country that actively assisted in its integration into the European academic and cultural community.

Over three years of his stay in Mariupol Dimitris Papandreou initiated and took part in numerous events at MSU premises. He delivered open lectures for students and instructors of the University, promoted the signing of cooperation agreement between MSU and the Centre for Strategic Studies “Strategy International” (Greece), and also was a co-organizer of a series of cultural and educational projects: international round-table “Army and Church in Greece”, literary soirees dedicated to the works by Konstantinos Kavafis, celebration of the Days of Ancient Greece in Mariupol that were held under the aegis of MSU.

Mr. Papandreou provided assistance to the Greek Philology Faculty and facilitated the teaching stuff by inviting highly-qualified instructors from Greece. He personally attended numerous graduation ceremonies of Greek Philology Faculty and continued his cooperation with some graduates offering them jobs at the Consulate.

And last but not the least, considering military and political situation in this region, Dimitris Papandreou hasn’t left Mariupol and continued exercising his professional duties, reporting operative information from the site to the Greek Embassy in Ukraine, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece and to the whole Greek society.

According to the decision of the Academic council of MSU, Dimitris Papandreou was awarded a Medal of Service for MSU for his personal significant contribution to the development of University international links, assistance to the development of active cooperation with Greek partners, promotion of positive image of the University in Greece. The honorary award was presented by the Rector of the University.

At the end of the meeting Kostyantyn Balabanov expressed his gratitude to Mr. Papandreou for his support once again. He emphasized his hopes for fruitful cooperation with the new Consul General of Greece in Mariupol who would start to exercise his duties on November 2, 2014.