Vassilis Kaskarelis

Greece; Ambassador, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Senior Advisor to the Board of Directors of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF)

Vassilis Kaskarelis served as Ambassador of Greece to the United States from 2009 to 2012. He subsequently served as Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs until 2013, when he was appointed Senior Advisor to the Board of Directors at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).

Ambassador Kaskarelis, who joined the Foreign Service in 1974, brought to Washington years of international experience at key organizations and unique knowledge of European, transatlantic, and global affairs.

He also served as Greece’s Permanent Representative to the European Union from 2004 to 2009, where he actively participated in shaping major EU developments. He negotiated the final phase of the accession of the Republic of Cyprus to the EU and the opening of negotiations with Turkey.

He was Permanent Representative to NATO from 2000 to 2004 (during 9/11, the stabilization of the Western Balkans, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan) while also serving as head negotiator for Confidence Building Measures between Greece and Turkey. Before that, he served as Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 1994 to 2000. His other posts included Ankara, Nicosia, and West Berlin.

In 2011, Ambassador Kaskarelis was named Diplomat of the Year by the World Affairs Council.