This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ATHENS 000419 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/13/2014 
TAGS: PGOV PREL GR BAKOYANNIS
SUBJECT: NEW GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER AN OLD FRIEND OF AMERICA 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Charles P. Ries.  Reasons 1.4(b/d). 
 
¶1.  (U) SUMMARY:  As has been anticipated for weeks, Prime 
Minister Karamanlis announced changes to his Cabinet February 
14, including the replacement of Foreign Minister Petros 
Molyviatis with Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyianni.  This move does 
not come as a surprise and will not alter the excellent 
relations the Embassy now enjoys with the Foreign Ministry. 
We expect Molyviatis will continue to advise the Prime 
Minister, in an unofficial capacity.  Draft congratulatory 
messages contained in paras 5 and 6.  Other Cabinet changes 
reported septel.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (C) Theodora (Dora) Bakoyianni is perhaps the most 
popular mayor of Athens since the Golden Age of Pericles. 
The first woman to serve as Mayor, Mrs. Bakoyianni was 
elected in 2002 with the biggest majority in the city's 
history, and she routinely tops popularity polls for New 
Democracy (ND) politicians.  Politically, Mrs. Bakoyianni has 
espoused moderate positions when she has commented on foreign 
policy issues, and has been particularly forceful on 
terrorism.  On terrorism, of course, her family story gives 
her special reasons to be firm.  Her first husband was 
assassinated by the domestic terrorist organization "17 
November" (17N) in 1989.  She gave strong support to the U.S. 
after the September 11 attacks (as did the whole ND 
leadership, in contrast to the then-ruling socialist (PASOK) 
party).  Dora has been outspokenly opposed to leniency for 
convicted 17N terrorists and in favor of keeping the 17N 
investigatory file open.  On regional issues, Mrs. Bakoyianni 
favors Greek-Turkish rapprochement and Turkey's European (EU) 
path, and she publicly supported the Annan Plan for Cyprus in 
¶2004. 
 
¶3.  (C) Meanwhile, in the announcement of the Cabinet 
reshuffle, Karamanlis thanked Molyviatis for his 50 years of 
public service.  We do not believe, however, that the 78-year 
old Molyviatis is through with government service.  While 
there was no announcement today of a new job for Molyviatis 
as Minister of State, this could still occur.  At the least, 
Molyviatis will continue to function unofficially as the PM's 
Elder Statesman on foreign policy issues. 
 
¶4.  (C) Dora Bakoyianni is not only the natural successor to 
Molyviatis at the MFA, she is widely seen by the Greek elite 
as Prime Minister Karamanlis's leading possible successor and 
rival to lead the ND party.  Bakoyianni owes her political 
career to her father (Constantinos Mitsotakis) who chaired ND 
for nine years, in addition to serving as Prime Minister. 
She served in her father's cabinet both as Deputy Minister to 
the PM (effectively "gatekeeper" to Mitsotakis) and as 
Culture Minister.  Following ND's electoral defeat in 1993, 
the party split into two major factions -- one led by Dora's 
father, the other by current PM Costas Karamanlis.  For this 
reason, Bakoyianni has been an outsider in the Karamanlis 
camp, and Karamanlis has been reluctant to give his chief 
competition such a high-profile job. 
 
¶5.  (C) It was undoubtably not an easy decision for 
Karamanlis to put Bakoyianni in such a high-profile post and 
thereby possibly annoint her as a "Gordon-Brown-like" 
successor in waiting.  Providing they can manage the personal 
and political rivalries, however, bringing Bakoyianni into 
the government should help Karamanlis.  Photogenic and 
forceful, Bakoyianni's energy and desire to shape events will 
help Greece cut a wider swath in the Balkans, in Brussels and 
internationally.  The attention to Bakoyianni will also tend 
to diminish any political benefit PASOK leader George 
Papandreou would get from his new international stage as 
President of Socialist International. 
 
¶6.  (C) We expect Dora to get out of the blocks early, 
traveling to Europe and the Balkans.  She will no doubt wish 
to visit Washington in the coming months as well.  A "hands 
on" manager, we anticipate that Bakoyianni will move quickly 
to revamp the Foreign Ministry and make personnel changes. 
On policy, in addition to the war on terrorism, we expect 
Bakoyianni to take a more activist role in working on 
relations with Turkey and to move the Cyprus issue (where 
both she and her father were advocates for the Annan Plan). 
 
 
¶7.  (SBU) TEXT OF PROPOSED CONGRATULATORY MESSAGE TO INCOMING 
FOREIGN MINISTER BAKOYIANNI: 
 
Dear Madame Minister: 
 
It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the 
"sisterhood" of Chief Diplomats, and commend you for stepping 
up to assume a crucial job at a critical juncture in global 
affairs.  Greece and the United States have long been close 
allies, and you are taking over at a time when relations 
between our two countries have never been better.  Our 
strategic partnership is evident from Afghanistan to the 
Balkans, where U.S. and Greek diplomats and soldiers are 
working side by side to bring freedom and peace to people who 
have long felt the lack of it. 
 
As you prepare to take over the reins at the Foreign 
Ministry, I want to assure you of my willingness to work 
closely with you to advance security in your immediate 
neighborhood and around the world.  I know that we will stand 
shoulder to shoulder in the war on terror.  The United States 
also will work with Greece to improve relations with Turkey, 
including support for its EU membership perspective and to 
work to promote a Cyprus settlement.  We also rely on Greece 
as a strategic partner at NATO and in the UN Security 
Council.  As you are all too aware, we face complex 
challenges around the world, but together I am confident we 
can achieve great things. 
 
I look forward to working with you, and meeting you soon. 
 
Sincerely, etc. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) TEXT OF PROPOSED THANK YOU MESSAGE TO OUTGOING 
FOREIGN MINISTER MOLYVIATIS: 
 
Dear Mr. Minister: 
 
I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you for the 
excellent cooperation we have enjoyed during your tenure as 
Foreign Minister.  Around the NATO table, I will miss your 
insight -- and your sense of humor -- about the business of 
diplomacy. 
 
As you leave the Foreign Ministry, you should take great 
pride in the fact that U.S.-Greece relations are better than 
they have been for many years.  And not only our bilateral 
relationship has improved under your leadership.  You have 
been a staunch proponent of regional stability, be it in the 
corridors of Brussels in the run-up to the launch of EU 
accession negotiations with Turkey, or with leaders in 
Belgrade, Zagreb and Pristina, upholding our common 
commitment to bringing war criminals to justice and fostering 
a peaceful solution in Kosovo.  I am very grateful for your 
support of Afghanistan's reconstruction and stability in 
Iraq, which I know have not been easy decisions for Greece to 
make. 
 
Above all, I must thank you, on behalf of all Americans, for 
Greece's immediate and unstinting efforts in the aftermath of 
Hurricane Katrina.  I know we did not fully utilize the Greek 
offer, but that in no way diminishes its value to us. 
Greece's generous donations, from public and private coffers, 
aided Americans in their hour of need.  There is no better 
measure of friendship than that. 
 
Sincerely, etc. 
 
END TEXT CONGRATULATORY MESSAGES 
 
¶7.  (U) BIO NOTE:   Dora Bakoyianni was born in 1954, the 
eldest child of former Greek Prime Minister Constantine 
Mitsotakis (1990-1993).  The family fled Greece to escape the 
military dictatorship in 1968, returned in 1974.  She married 
politician Pavlos Bakoyiannis in 1974.  An outspoken member 
of Parliament, Pavlos Bakoyiannis was assassinated by 
domestic terror organization "17 November" in 1989. 
Bakoyianni has two children from her first marriage.  She 
remarried in 1998 to Greek businessman Isidoros Kouvelos, 
although he stays out of public life.  Dora studied political 
science and law at the University of Athens, politics and 
communications in Germany.  She is a longstanding member of 
the New Democracy party.  During her father's tenure as PM, 
Dora Bakoyianni served as Minister of Culture.  In opposition 
politics, she served as shadow foreign/defense minister (in 
addition to being elected to parliament four times). 
Bakoyianni was picked by current PM Karamanlis in 2002 to run 
for Mayor of Athens.  Fluent in English, French and German. 
RIES