Fighting Nazis During World War II: The Late Karolos Papoulias Is Close To Arafat To Gaddafi, Criticizes NATO Intervention

Former Greek President Karolos Papoulias. (Wikimedia Commons/Colijn Verkempinck)

JAKARTA - Former Greek President Karolos Papoulias, who served two terms between 2005 and 2015, died on Sunday aged 92, the presidential office said.

Papoulias, who was also foreign minister in 1985-89 and 1993-96, was a high-ranking member of the socialist PASOK party, and a close associate of the late leader and former prime minister Andreas Papandreou.

President Katerina Sakellaropoulou paid tribute to Papoulias, for his role in the resistance to Nazi occupation during World War II and against the 1967-74 Greek military junta.

"His participation in the national resistance and the anti-dictatorship struggle reflects his continued devotion to the ideals of freedom and justice, which he defended throughout his life," Sakellaropoulou said in a statement.

Meanwhile, citing Euronews, Papoulias is close to Andreas Papandreou, the founder of the PASOK Socialist party. This opposition prompted conservative Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, who succeeded Simitis in 2004, to propose Papoulias for the largely ceremonial presidential post in early 2005. He was re-elected to a second term in February 2010, a term marked by the Greece financial crisis.

Papoulias had little power to shape policy, but he also temperamentally refused to overthrow the successive governments he installed, the conservative, socialist, socialist-conservative coalition and, in the final month of his term, the leftist government led by Syriza.

Former Greek President Karolos Papoulias. (Wikimedia Commons/Ορκωμοσία . )

His 10-year term was largely free of controversy at home. His foreign policy, however, saw him support the likes of Moammar Gadhafi and Slobodan Milosevic, while maintaining friendly relations with the Kremlin.

Karolos Papoulias was born on June 4, 1929, in a village near the city of Ioannina, in northwestern Greece, as the son of a military officer who retired as Major General.

At a very young age, he became involved in the resistance to the 1941-44 occupation of Nazi Germany. After his release, Papoulias finished high school and studied law at the University of Athens.

He was also heavily involved in sports, taking part in several track and field events, and became the youth champion of Greece in the pole vault, while also being a member of the Greek national volleyball team.

Later, he served as President of the Athens-based Ethnikos Athletic Club for 25 years. Papoulias completed his legal studies with a bachelor's degree from the University of Milan and a doctorate in private international law from the University of Cologne.

In 1963, Papoulias settled in West Germany, and in 1967, when the military junta seized power in Greece, he founded a resistance organization. During the period 1967-74 he met and became close to Andreas Papandreou.

Returning to Greece in 1974, Papoulias was a founding member of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement and was elected to the Greek Parliament from 1977 to 2004. He was a member of all of the Papandreou governments, especially in foreign affairs roles.

To note, Papoulias is noted for his close ties to Arab leaders, including PLO chief Yasser Arafat and Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi, and, in general, his coldness towards Western policies.

As a member of parliament, he strongly protested NATO's intervention in Kosovo in 1999 and voiced support for Serbia's nationalist leader, suspected war criminal Slobodan Milosevic.