Elena Kountoura is a Greek politician and Member of the European Parliament. She is an ex-minister of Tourism. Elena resigned on 3 May 2019 to participate in the European Parliament’s elections in the Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras and MEP for Athens. Before entering politics, she was an international model, a women’s magazine director, and a track-and-field athlete. There are concerns that she is a pro-Chinese politician.
She is one of the MEPs who refused to vote on the Resolution on the situation of the Uyghurs in China in the European parliament.
“Greece supports the Belt and Road Initiative, and tourism can contribute to the China-led proposal, especially by promoting cultural tourism,” she says.
Elena Kountoura visited China twice, in 1989 and 1998 when she was an internationally famous fashion model active in Paris and Athens. She promoted fashion in China then. 2017, as a tourism minister of Greece, she visited China for promotional trips.
In 2017, the president of China’s Silk Road Chamber of International Commerce, Jianzhong Lu chamber members, met with Greek Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura. They also debated the prospects for closer collaboration between the Chamber and the Ministry of Tourism during the meeting. They aimed to encourage high-level business travel, including business representatives focusing on investment possibilities.
She intends to Promote Tourism in the Shanghai Free-Trade Zone. In efforts to further promote and initiate collaboration in tourism and trade between Greece and China, Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura inaugurated the enduring Greek stand at the Shanghai Free Trade Zone.
