Nikiforos Diamandouros was the Ombudsman of the European Union (European Ombudsman) from 2003 to October 2013. From 1998 to 2003, he served as the first National Ombudsman of Greece. He is Emeritus Professor of comparative politics at the Department of Political Science and Public Administration of the University of Athens. He has written extensively on the politics and history of Southern, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe, including Greece, and, more specifically, on democratisation, state and nation-building, the relationship between culture and politics, as well as the ombudsman institution, and the principles of good administrative practice.