The former minister of PASOK, Vaso Papandreou, died at the age of 80, who had been facing serious health problems in recent years.
Her funeral will take place on Saturday, October 19 at 15:00 p.m. in Valimitika, Aigiou.
A minute's silence was observed in the Plenary of the Parliament, after the condolences expressed by the representatives of the parties.
A minute's silence for Vasso Papandreou
Vaso Papandreou was a leading member of PASOK and the first female Commissioner in the then EEC from 1989 to 1993, when she clashed with conservative leaders and especially with Margaret Thatcher. As Minister of the Interior, she instituted the Citizen Service Centers (CSCs), while on her initiative she legislated the participation of women at a rate of 33% in the combinations of the 2002 Prefectural and Municipal elections.
Panagiotis Doudonis spoke of the great legacy he left with her work.
We respectfully say goodbye to Vaso Papandreou, who left her own mark and a great legacy with her work wherever she went, both for Greece and PASOK and for the whole of Europe as the first female Commissioner pic.twitter.com/Zn1eSsCsJK
Who was Vaso Papandreou?
Born in Valimitika, Aigiou, on December 9, 1944, Vaso Papandreou studied Economics at the then ASOEE and continued in England where she received a master's degree from the University of London and a PhD from the University of Reading, and then taught at Oxford.
He was, among others, Deputy Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology (1985-1986), Deputy Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology (1986-1987), Deputy Minister of Trade for the issues of the Greek Presidency of the Community (1988-1989), EEC Commissioner for the Employment, Labor Relations and Social Affairs, Human Resources, Education and Training, and Gender Equality (1989-1993), Minister of Development (1996-1999), Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization (1999-2001) and PEHODE (2001-2004) in PASOK governments.
As Commissioner he promoted the European Social Charter and established Social Dialogue throughout Europe.
Internally, among other things, he had taken initiatives for the reconstruction of PASOK and played an active role in the election of Kostas Simitis to the prime ministership, while both were members of the "group of four", together with Thodoros Pagalos and Paraskevas Avgerinos.
Vaso Papandreou retired from politics in 2012, when she announced her intention not to run again in the second Athens constituency, where she was elected. She had said at the time that "in the short term the future of PASOK will not be auspicious at all", while she had severely criticized the then government of George Papandreou, with the country having entered into the memorandum. A month before, he had been removed from the then PASOK Committee, together with 21 other MPs, because in February 2012 they had voted against articles of the then revised memorandum.
