[citation needed] In May 2003, Valinakis was appointed New Democracy's out-of-parliament representative on the National Council for Foreign Policy.

In 2009, he made an official visit to the United States to attend events organized by the Greek-American community marking the 61st anniversary of the Dodecanese islands’ unification with Greece.

[citation needed] He is fluent in English, French, and German and has a working knowledge of Spanish, Italian, and Russian.

[citation needed] He has also worked as a senior consultant to international organizations (such as the EU, the WEU, and BSEC) and to Greek and other governmental bodies.

In his ministerial capacity, Valinakis participated in more than 40 EU ministerial meetings (GAERC - General Affairs and External Relations Council) and in more than 40 Ministerial Meetings of the NATO, The Council of Europe, OSCE, Black Sea Cooperation Council, southeast European Cooperation Process, Mediterranean Forum; he substituted for the Foreign Minister or the Prime Minister in a large number of Ministerial/ Heads of State-Government Euro-Mediterranean, EU-GCC, EU-Asia, EU-ASEAN, EU-Latin America, EU-Africa and Southeast European Cooperation Process Meetings.

Finally, he negotiated and signed on Greece's behalf the Accession Treaties to the EU of Bulgaria and Romania and several SAA Agreements of the Union.

Yannis Valinakis also holds numerous international state decorations (including by the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, China, Denmark, Norway etc.)