30 January Samaras phoned Avramopoulos and assured him that New Democracy would support his eventual nomination. Avramopoulos criticized the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria. He said that "the European Union remains committed to the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian state". Other positions From the outset of his political career, Avramopoulos served for twenty years as Honorary President of the Athens’ International Prize for Democracy for UNESCO in Paris (until 2013). He has also been Chairman of the Steering Committee on Cities´ Diplomacy, established by the Global Forum (Rome) and the World Bank Institute (Washington D.C.). He was elected President of the “World Institute of Global and Cities’ Diplomacy”, an independent NGO based in Rome as well as Executive President of the “World Union of Olympic Cities”, an Olympic Games NGO. Greek-Turkish rapprochement Avramopoulos has a friendly relation with the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan since they were Mayors of Athens and Istanbul respectively. He is deemed one of the main proponents of Greek-Turkish rapprochement. Also this year the two former Mayors came together to discuss topics regarding Migration, Borders and Security on European and EU-level in Istanbul on 3 June 2019. On the same day, Avramopoulos also met with Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu to discuss about the same topic. Academic degrees Avramopoulos read Public Law and Political Science at Athens University Law School, graduating with the degree of Bachelor of Arts (BA). He then undertook postgraduate studies receiving a Master's degree in European Studies at the Institute of European Affairs, Université libre de Bruxelles. He has been conferred honorary doctorates by Adelphi University (Long Island, New York), Deree College (Athens), Drexel University (Philadelphia) and Kingston University (London), and has been elected Honorary Professor of Peking University (Beijing) and of the European College of Parma (Italy). Honours Avramopoulos has received numerous honors from European States as well as many countries around the world for his diplomatic, public and charitable service: Grand Cross, Order of the Phoenix (Greece) Grand Cross, Order of Civil Merit (Spain) Grand Cross, Order of the Crown (Belgium) Grand Cross, Order of Leopold II (Belgium) Grand Cross, Order of the Polar Star (Sweden) Grand Cross, Order of the Lion (Finland) Grand Cross, Order of Merit (Portugal) 1st Class, Order of the White Star (Estonia) Commander, Order of Merit (Poland) Commandeur de l’Ordre de la Couronne de Chêne (Luxembourg) Grand Decoration, Honour for Services