General Secretariat for Macedonia and Thrace
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace ( el, Υπουργείο Μακεδονίας και Θράκης, ΥΜΑΘ) is a former
ministry Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...
of Greece. Responsible for the regions of
Macedonia Macedonia most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...
and Thrace, since 2015 it has been demoted to the level of a sub-ministry within the Ministry of the Interior. The incumbent Deputy Minister for Macedonia and Thrace is of New Democracy. The ministry had been known as the
Ministry of Northern Greece The Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace ( el, Υπουργείο Μακεδονίας και Θράκης, ΥΜΑΘ) is a former ministry (government department), ministry of Greece. Responsible for the geographic regions of Greece, regions of Mace ...
until it was renamed on 19 August 1988. It was demoted to a general secretariat in 2009, but was re-established as a ministry in 2012, and again demoted to a sub-ministry within the Ministry of the Interior on 27 January 2015. It is housed in Government House in Thessaloniki.


History

The ministry was founded in 1912 as the Governorate-General of Macedonia () following the acquisition of
Macedonia Macedonia most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...
during the
Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...
. It was promoted to cabinet level in the late 1920s and renamed the Governorate-General of Northern Greece () in 1945, after being merged with the Governorate-General of Thrace (). It was renamed the Ministry of Northern Greece () in 1955. The third name change occurred in 1988, when it was renamed the Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace. In 2009, the ministry was downgraded to a General Secretariat within the Ministry of the Interior, until it was re-established as a separate ministry in 2012. With the
legislative election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
of
SYRIZA The Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance ( el, Συνασπισμός Ριζοσπαστικής Αριστεράς – Προοδευτική Συμμαχία, Synaspismós Rizospastikís Aristerás – Proodeftikí Simachía), ...
in January 2015, the ministry was once more subordinated to the
Ministry of the Interior and Administrative Reconstruction The Ministry of the Interior ( el, Υπουργείο Εσωτερικών) is a government department of Greece. On 15 September 1995, it was merged with the Ministry of the Prime Minister's Office () to form the Ministry of the Interior, Publ ...
, headed by a deputy minister. Shortly after the Hellenic Army entered Thessaloniki on 26 October 1912, King
Constantine I Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterranea ...
demanded that he be given control of the newly acquired region of
Macedonia Macedonia most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...
, but Prime Minister
Eleftherios Venizelos Eleftherios Kyriakou Venizelos ( el, Ελευθέριος Κυριάκου Βενιζέλος, translit=Elefthérios Kyriákou Venizélos, ; – 18 March 1936) was a Greek statesman and a prominent leader of the Greek national liberation movem ...
had already decided that the fate of the region would lie with his Minister of Justice,
Konstantinos Raktivan Konstantinos Raktivan ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Ρακτιβάν; 1865 – 21 May 1935) was a Greek jurist and politician, who served as cabinet minister, as the ''de facto'' first Governor-General of Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, president o ...
, who arrived in the city on 30 October. His position within the Governorate-General of Macedonia was so powerful that his power matched that of the Prime Minister and caused dismay among the other ministers in Athens. Raktivan was later succeeded by other prominent politicians of Greece, such as
Stefanos Dragoumis Stefanos Dragoumis ( el, Στέφανος Δραγούμης; 1842September 17, 1923) was a judge, writer and the Prime Minister of Greece from January to October 1910. He was the father of Ion Dragoumis. Early years Dragoumis was born in Athen ...
, Emmanouil Repoulis and
Themistoklis Sofoulis Themistoklis Sofoulis or Sophoulis (; 24 November 1860 – 24 June 1949) was a prominent centrist and liberal Greek politician from Samos Island, who served three times as Prime Minister of Greece, with the Liberal Party, which he led for many y ...
. Despite its limited freedom of action in later years, the Governorate-General of Macedonia managed to produce an astonishing amount of work between its founding in 1912 and the creation of the Ministry of Northern Greece in 1955. Following the Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917, the Governorate-General appointed
Ernest Hébrard Ernest Hébrard (1875–1933) was a French architect, archaeologist and urban planner, best known for his urban plan for the center of Thessaloniki, Greece, after the great fire of 1917. Background Hebrard studied at the École des Beaux- ...
as the master architect for the redesign of the city. The Governorate-General was also responsible for the complete incorporation of Macedonia into the Greek state despite the difficult circumstances of the
interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the World War I, First World War to the beginning of the World War II, Second World War. The in ...
. Other successes of the Governorate-General at the time include the establishment of numerous government agencies, including the creation of Courts of Appeal, Courts of First Instance and District Courts, the creation of an independent archaeological department, a forestry department and public services, and the provision of shelter to hundreds of thousands of refugees after the population exchange between Greece and Turkey in the 1920s.


The Ministry


Structure

According to Presidential Decree no. 167 (2 September 2005), the Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace was made up of the following departments: *The Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace **The Office of Solicitor of the State **The Office of Financial Control **The Office of the Borderland **The Office of the Assessor of the Audit Office **The Office of the Deputy Minister ***The Office of Defence and Political Planning in Case of Emergency ***The Office of Public Relations, of the Press and of Etiquette **The Office of the Secretary-General ***The Secretariat ****The Office of Foreign Affairs, Defence, Policing and Justice ::::*Department of Cooperation with the countries of south-eastern Europe ::::*Department of European Affairs ::::*Department of the
Diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...
::::*Department of Defence and the Aegean ::::*Department of Policing and Justice :::*The Office of Education, Culture and Citizen Protection :::*The Office of the Economy and Tourism :::*The Office of Infrastructure and the Environment :::*The Office of Administrative Development and e-Governance :::*The Office of the Media :::*The Office of Quality and Efficiency :::*The Office of Facilitation of People with Disabilities ::*The Department of Inspection and Coordination of Services


Political leadership

Since the '' Metapolitefsi'', there have been twenty Ministers for Macedonia and Thrace from two parties, New Democracy and PASOK. The first to assume the post following the fall of the military junta in 1974 was
Nikolaos Martis Nikolaos K. Martis ( el, Νικόλαος Κ. Μάρτης; 1 January 1915 – 12 November 2013) was a Greek author and politician. Military career He was serving in the Hellenic Army as an artillery officer and when the Germans occupied norther ...
. Stavros Kalafatis served as the last minister before the ministry's abolition upon the election of George Papandreou in 2009. The ministry was re-established on 21 June 2012 after the election of Antonis Samaras, but was again absorbed by the Ministry of the Interior on 27 January 2015 after the election of
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 ...
.


Role

The Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace is responsible for "the development of the border regions of Greece, giving Northern Greece the opportunity to acquire a voice and role in the political and economic processes". In particular, the ministry gathers information regarding the communities that fall under its jurisdiction and proceeds to propose and discuss legislation and policies with other government bodies.


References

{{Greek Macedonia Macedonia (Greece) Western Thrace Government agencies established in 1912 1912 establishments in Greece