Kokkalis Foundation celebrating its 10th anniversary in Athens last week.

To mark the occasion, Kokkalis Foundation and Harvard University's Kokkalis Programme on Southeastern and East-Central Europe hosted the largest gathering in the region of Harvard alumni, faculty and senior officials and Southeastern European leaders.

The celebrations was attended by a capacity audience including the vice-president of the Hellenic Parliament Sotiris Hatzigakis, Hellenic deputy-minister of foreign affairs Theodoros Kassimis, former ministers, members of parliament, foreign dignitaries and over 150 fellows of the Kokkalis Programme from Southeastern Europe.

The Kokkalis Programme was founded by Socrates Kokkalis in 1997 at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government with the mission of enhancing the quality of democracy and institutional vitality in Southeast Europe through education.

That same year, The Kokkalis Foundation was established in Athens to build bridges between the Kennedy School and Southeast Europe, and to contribute directly to the development of the public, cultural and scientific life of the region.

The 10th anniversary celebration was the largest international meeting of graduates, professors and senior administrators of Harvard University outside of US.Trade Arabia News Service