Kyriakos Mitsotakis

His Excellency
Kyriakos Mitsotakis
Κυριάκος Μητσοτάκης
Mitsotakis in 2024
Prime Minister of Greece
Incumbent
Assumed office
26 June 2023
PresidentKaterina Sakellaropoulou
Preceded byIoannis Sarmas
In office
8 July 2019 – 24 May 2023
PresidentProkopis Pavlopoulos
Katerina Sakellaropoulou
DeputyPanagiotis Pikrammenos
Preceded byAlexis Tsipras
Succeeded byIoannis Sarmas
Leader of the Opposition
In office
10 January 2016 – 8 July 2019
Prime MinisterAlexis Tsipras
Preceded byIoannis Plakiotakis
Succeeded byAlexis Tsipras
President of New Democracy
Incumbent
Assumed office
10 January 2016
Vice PresidentAdonis Georgiadis
Kostis Hatzidakis
Preceded byIoannis Plakiotakis
Minister of Administrative Reform and Electronic Governance
In office
25 June 2013 – 27 January 2015
Prime MinisterAntonis Samaras
Preceded byAntonis Manitakis
Succeeded byNikos Voutsis
Member of the Hellenic Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office
7 March 2004
ConstituencyThessaloniki A (2023–present)
Athens B2 (2019–2023)
Athens B (2004–2019)
Personal details
Born (1968-03-04) 4 March 1968 (age 56)
Athens, Greece
Political partyNew Democracy
SpouseMareva Grabowski (m. 1997–⁠2006; 2014–present)
Children3
Parent
RelativesDora Bakoyannis (sister)
Eleftherios Venizelos
EducationAthens College
Alma materHarvard University (BA, MBA)
Stanford University (MA)
Awards
Signature
This article is part of a series about
Kyriakos Mitsotakis
  • Political offices
  • Leader of the Opposition
  • Prime Minister of Greece
First term
Second term
  • Elections

Kyriakos Mitsotakis (Greek: Κυριάκος Μητσοτάκης, IPA: [cirˈʝakoz mit͡soˈtacis]; born 4 March 1968) is a Greek politician currently serving as the prime minister of Greece since July 2019, except for a month between May and June 2023. Mitsotakis has been president of the New Democracy party since 2016. He is generally associated with the centre-right, espousing economically liberal policies.

Mitsotakis previously was Leader of the Opposition from 2016 to 2019, and Minister of Administrative Reform from 2013 to 2015. He is the son of the late Konstantinos Mitsotakis, who was Prime Minister of Greece from 1990 to 1993. He was first elected to the Hellenic Parliament for the Athens B constituency in 2004. After New Democracy suffered two election defeats in 2015, he was elected the party's leader in January 2016. Three years later, he led his party to a majority in the 2019 Greek legislative election.

Following the May 2023 Greek legislative election in which no party won a majority and no coalition government was formed by any of the parties eligible to do so, Mitsotakis called for a snap election in June. On 24 May 2023, as required by Greece's constitution, the Greek president Katerina Sakellaropoulou appointed Ioannis Sarmas to be the caretaker prime minister for the interim period.[1] In the June 2023 Greek legislative election, he once again led his party to a majority and was sworn in as prime minister, having received the order to form a government from the Greek president.[2][3][4][5]

During his terms as Prime Minister, Mitsotakis has received both praise and criticism for his pro-European, technocratic governance, austerity measures,[6] and his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Greece.[7][8] He has been credited with the modernization and digital transformation of the country's public administration,[9] and has been remarked for his overall management of the Greek economy, with Greece being named the Top Economic Performer for 2022 by The Economist,[10] which was in particular due to Greece in 2022 being able to repay ahead of schedule 2.7 billion euros ($2.87 billion) of loans owed to Eurozone countries under the first bailout it received during its decade-long debt crisis, along with being on the verge of reaching investment-grade rating.[11][12] He has been commended for furthering LGBT rights in Greece through the legalization of same-sex adoption and same-sex marriage in Greece.[13][14] He has also received both praise and criticism for his handling of migration, including aid from the European Union,[15] but criticism from journalists and activists for pushbacks, which his government has denied.[16] Additionally, Mitsotakis has received criticism for heightened corruption during his term,[17][18] as well as a deterioration of freedom of the press in Greece.[19][20][21] His term was impacted by the 2022 wiretapping scandal,[22] the Tempi Train crash,[23] and the wildfires in 2021 and 2023.[24][25][26] In 2024 he received criticism by the European Parliament in a resolution addressing concerns over the state of the rule of law in Greece.[27][28][29]

  1. ^ Papadimas, Lefteris (24 May 2023). "Greece appoints caretaker PM ahead of June repeat election". Reuters. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  2. ^ "Results of June 2023 Greek elections". kathimerini.gr. 26 June 2023. Archived from the original on 26 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  3. ^ "Kyriakos Mitsotakis sworn in as Prime Minister". kathimerini.gr. 26 June 2023. Archived from the original on 26 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  4. ^ "Mitsotakis receives order to form government". kathimerini.gr. 26 June 2023. Archived from the original on 26 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  5. ^ "Greek elections: Mitsotakis's conservatives hail win as mandate for change". BBC News. 25 June 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  6. ^ "How Greece became Europe's unlikely model student". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  7. ^ "Charlemagne: How Greece became Europe's unlikely model student". The Economist. 22 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  8. ^ Seinti, Eva (26 February 2021). ""Ελλάδα: πώς γίνεται ο εμβολιασμός χωρίς χάος": Νέα επαινετικά σχόλια από τα γερμανικά ΜΜΕ". CNN Greece (in Greek). Athens. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  9. ^ "Pandemic, EU billions drive Greece's digital revolution". Reuters. 25 February 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  10. ^ Kokkinidis, Tasos (21 December 2022). "Greece Named Top Economic Performer for 2022 by the Economist". GreekReporter.com. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  11. ^ "Greece repays euro zone bailout loans early for first time-source". Reuters. 15 December 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  12. ^ Arnold, Martin; Varvitsioti, Eleni; McDougall, Mary (14 May 2023). "Greece's 'greatest turnround': from junk to investment grade". Financial Times. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  13. ^ Smith, Helena (11 January 2024). "Greek PM faces fierce opposition over pledge to legalise gay marriage". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  14. ^ "Greece set to legalise same-sex marriage with backing by opposition". euronews. 12 January 2024. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  15. ^ "Migration: EU praises Greece as 'shield' after Turkey opens border". the Guardian. 3 March 2020. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  16. ^ Smith, Helena (19 May 2023). "Greek government under fire after video shows 'pushback' of asylum seekers". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  17. ^ "The Rot at the Heart of Greece Is Now Clear for Everyone to See". New York Times. 22 August 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  18. ^ Tsimitakis, Matthaios (21 September 2022). "Greek PM's Wiretapping Scandal Can't be Justified by Foreign Threats". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  19. ^ "How Greece became Europe's worst place for press freedom". Politico. 8 August 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  20. ^ "Greece: Media freedom under assault". AlJazeera. 23 April 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  21. ^ "The worrying decline of press freedom in Greece". Le Monde. 15 May 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  22. ^ "Greek 'Watergate' tarnishes reputation of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis". Le Monde. 30 August 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  23. ^ Ritchie, Eleni Giokos,Hannah (5 March 2023). "Greek protests over train crash flare despite prime minister's apology". CNN. Retrieved 30 April 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ "Greek PM apologises for failures in tackling more than 500 wildfires". The Independent. 10 August 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  25. ^ "Greek Prime Minister promises to fight 'climate war'". euronews. 18 September 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  26. ^ "Experts blame poor government preparation for Greek fires' devastation". www.euractiv.com. 4 September 2023. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  27. ^ "MEPs voice alarm over 'worrying' rule-of-law decline in Greece". euronews. 7 February 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  28. ^ "MEPs voice concern about the rule of law in Greece | eKathimerini.com". www.ekathimerini.com. 7 February 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  29. ^ "Parliament concerned about very serious threats to EU values in Greece | News | European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. 2 July 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2024.