Ioannis Mouzalas ( el, Ιωάννης Μουζάλας) is a Greek

obstetrician-gynecologist Obstetrics and Gynaecology (also spelled as Obstetrics and Gynecology; abbreviated as Obs and Gynae, O&G, OB-GYN and OB/GYN) is the medical specialty that encompasses the two subspecialties of obstetrics (covering pregnancy, childbirth, and ...

, surgeon and one of the founding members of the Greek chapter of Doctors of the World. In August 2015, he was appointed Alternate Minister for Immigration Policy in the

Caretaker Cabinet of Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou The Caretaker Cabinet of Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou was formed following the resignation of the Syriza-ANEL coalition government on 20 August 2015, and the failure of opposition parties to form their own government. The cabinet was headed b ...

. Following the September 2015 election, he was confirmed in office as a member of the

Second Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras The Second Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras was sworn in on 23 September 2015, following the Greek legislative election in September 2015. Alexis Tsipras, leader of Syriza, was sworn in as Prime Minister of Greece on 21 September, having agreed to re ...

. From November 2016 to July 2019, the immigration portfolio was elevated to a ministry in its own right.

Early life and education

Mouzalas graduated from the Athens Medical School,

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...

, before continuing his studies in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Medical career

Mouzalas has worked in Tzaneio Hospital, Agios Savvas Hospital and Elena Hospital. In London, he worked with

Michel Odent Michel Odent (born 1930) is a French obstetrician and childbirth specialist. Education Born in a French village in 1930, Odent studied medicine in Paris and was educated as a surgeon in the 1950s. He has been presented in Lancet as “one of the l ...

. In 1999, he made the first childbirth in Greece in water. Mouzalas is one of the founding members of Doctors of the World and has participated in more than 25 missions in Asia and Africa.

Political career

Mouzalas was appointed as the Alternate Minister of Immigration Policy in the

. On 4 September, he announced four measures to help combat the

European migrant crisis The 2015 European migrant crisis, also known internationally as the Syrian refugee crisis, was a period of significantly increased movement of refugees and migrants into Europe in 2015, when 1.3 million people came to the continent to reques ...

: creation of a coordination centre to manage the refugee flow, improved and increased logistical and staff support to existing facilities, taking immediate advantage of European solidarity program and community funds and providing necessary funds and resources to help local economies on the islands affected. On 15 March 2016, in an interview with

Skai TV Skai TV (Greek: ΣΚΑΪ) is a Greek free-to-air television network based in Piraeus. It is part of the Skai Group, one of the largest media groups in the country. It was relaunched in its present form on 1 April 2006 in the Athens metropolita ...

, Mouzalas referred to Greece's northern neighbour simply as "Macedonia", sparking a demand for his resignation from coalition partner

Panos Kammenos Panagiotis "Panos" Kammenos ( el, Παναγιώτης "Πάνος" Καμμένος, ; born 12 May 1965) is a Greek politician and the founder of the right-wing party "Independent Greeks", which formed the governing coalition of the Hellenic Par ...

due to the

Macedonia naming dispute The use of the country name "Macedonia (terminology), Macedonia" was disputed between Greece and the North Macedonia, Republic of Macedonia (now North Macedonia) between 1991 and 2019. The dispute was a source of instability in the Balkans#W ...

. Mouzalas apologised for "slip-up", but on 16 March Kammenos reiterated his demand for Mouzalas' resignation. Following a lunchtime meeting with

Alexis Tsipras Alexis Tsipras ( el, Αλέξης Τσίπρας, ; born 28 July 1974) is a Greek politician serving as Leader of the Official Opposition since 2019. He served as Prime Minister of Greece from 2015 to 2019. Tsipras has led the Coalition of th ...

, Kammenos declared that the "Independent Greeks support the government but not the migration minister." Nevertheless, the government defended Mouzalas, saying in a statement that it was "irresponsible and hypocritical" to undermine him during the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mouzalas, Ioannis Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Syriza politicians Greek MPs 2019–2023 People from Athens