Giannis Valinakis

Who is Giannis Valinakis?

Giannis Valinakis is a Greek politician and university professor. He is the former Greek Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Valinakis was born in Athens in 1955. After graduating from the German School of Athens, he studied at the Athens Law School and University of Heidelberg's School of Political Science. Valinakis completed post-graduate studies in international politics, defense policy and international relations at the Sorbonne. He has worked as a researcher at Greek and foreign institutes. In 1992 he became a professor of international relations at the University of Athens. Valinakis was president of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy, after serving as assistant director of research, director of research, and director general.

In May 2003, Valinakis was appointed New Democracy's out-of-parliament representative on the National Council for Foreign Policy.

In 2009, he made an official visit to the United States to attend events organized by the Greek-American community marking the 61st anniversary of the Dodecanese islands’ unification with Greece.

Valinakis is married to Christina Haratsari, a lawyer.