PRESS RELEASE
The open online event organized by UEF Greece, entitled “Venezuela, International Law and Europe’s Responsibility – The Collapse of the Rules-Based International Order,” was held with great success and a high level of participation. The strong turnout highlighted the keen interest of the academic community, researchers, think tank professionals, journalists, and engaged citizens in current developments within the international system and Europe’s evolving role.
Watch the event video HERE
The discussion was opened with a political and institutional framing by Daphne Gogou, President of UEF Greece and member of the Executive Bureau of UEF/WFM, who emphasized that developments in Venezuela constitute a direct challenge to the international legal order and to Europe’s collective responsibility.
Vasileios Grammatikas, Associate Professor of Public International Law at the Department of Political Science of Democritus University of Thrace and Director of the Laboratory of Geopolitical Analyses, examined the strategic coherence of the Trump administration’s policy and the MAGA agenda. He argued that this approach should not be understood as unpredictability, but rather as a consistent revisionist strategy of power, with clear implications for the international order and the functioning of international law.
Giorgos Kostakos, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Foundation for Global Governance and Sustainability (FOGGS), based in Brussels, focused on the United Nations at its 80th anniversary, stressing that the Organization is not institutionally powerless but politically bypassed by major powers, with Venezuela illustrating the limits of multilateral governance.
Eleftheria Ftaklaki, International Relations expert, Political Scientist, and Lecturer at the University of the Aegean, presented a detailed analysis of the legal and political status of Greenland, highlighting Europe’s political inertia and the consequences for sovereignty, security, and Europe’s strategic credibility.
Ioannis Stribis, Assistant Professor of International Institutions at the Department of Mediterranean Studies of the University of the Aegean, analyzed the limits of national sovereignty, the extraterritorial application of law, and the gaps in international criminal justice, deconstructing legal concepts often invoked to legitimize interstate interventions.
A shared conclusion across all interventions was that the erosion of democracy within states goes hand in hand with the weakening of the international legal order and the retreat of rules in favor of power. It was emphasized that Europe must confront this “new normal” not as a temporary deviation, but as a structural transformation of the international system.
The event was moderated by Marovita Nikolaidou, Communications Specialist and Political Scientist, Head of Communications and member of the Board of UEF Greece.