George Papandreou elected President of the Socialist International

"The election today of George Papandreou as President of the Socialist International will bring new vigour to international efforts for peace and democracy" said Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, President of the Party of European Socialists.
 
George Papandreou is a man of enormous integrity and international experience. With George at the wheel the Socialist International is on the move.
 
The world needs its social democratic parties - in government and oppostion - to be a stronger and more united  force. I believe that with George Papandreou as President the SI can play a more active and progressive role. He is the right man to modernise the Socialist International and bring new vigour to international efforts for peace, democracy, justice and solidarity.  
 
George Papandreou gained enormous respect for what he did to create better relations between Turkey and Greece, added Rasmussen. George Papandreou's honesty and intelligence will be a boost to our work to achieve better global governance.  
 
Antonio Guterres did some great work for the Socialist International and George will be going further down the road with some of those initiatives."

The Socialist International is the worldwide organisation of social democratic, socialist and labour parties bringing together 161 political parties and organisations from all continents. Previous Presidents include Willy Brandt, Pierre Mauroy, and Antonio Guterres.  
 
George A. Papandreou was born on 16 June 1952. He holds an M.Sc. in Sociology and Development from LSE, and is a fellow at Harvard University’s Center for International Affairs.  An MP since 1981, he served in several government posts before becoming Foreign Minister from 1999-2004.  As President of PASOK (Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement) since February 2004, George Papandreou is leading radical reforms of the Greek party political system. He has received several honours for his commitment to promote peace and democracy, notably his successful campaign to engineer a rapprochement between Greece and Turkey.

For more information: Julian Scola, Press Officer, Party of European Socialists, tel mobile +32 486 117 394