Konstantinos G. Simitis ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Γ. Σημίτης; born 23 June 1936), usually referred to as Costas Simitis or Kostas Simitis (Κώστας Σημίτης), is a
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
politician who served as
Prime Minister of Greece
The prime minister of the Hellenic Republic ( el, Πρωθυπουργός της Ελληνικής Δημοκρατίας, Prothypourgós tis Ellinikís Dimokratías), colloquially referred to as the prime minister of Greece ( el, Πρωθυ ...
and was leader of the
Panhellenic Socialist Movement
The Panhellenic Socialist Movement ( el, Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα, Panellínio Sosialistikó Kínima, ), known mostly by its acronym PASOK, (; , ) is a social-democratic political party in Greece. Until 2012, it ...
(PASOK) from 1996 to 2004.
Biography
Costas Simitis was born in
Piraeus
Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...
to Georgios Simitis, a Professor at the
School of Economic and Commercial Sciences, and to his wife Fani (née Christopoulou). He studied law at the
University of Marburg
The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...
in Germany and economics at the
London School of Economics
, mottoeng = To understand the causes of things
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £240.8 million (2021)
, budget = £391.1 millio ...
. He is married to Daphne Arkadiou (b. 1938), and has two daughters, Fiona and Marilena. He currently resides in the Kolonaki district of Athens. His brother
Spiros Simitis
Spiros Simitis ( el, Σπύρος Σημίτης; 19 October 1934 – 18 March 2023) was a Greek-German jurist and a pioneer in the field of data protection. In recognition of his role, admirers sometimes describe him as "the man who invented d ...
is a prominent
jurist
A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...
specializing on
data privacy
Information privacy is the relationship between the collection and dissemination of data, technology, the public expectation of privacy, contextual information norms, and the legal and political issues surrounding them. It is also known as data pr ...
in Germany.
Political activity before 1981
In 1965 he returned to Greece and was one of the founders of the "
Alexandros Papanastasiou
Alexandros Papanastasiou ( el, Αλέξανδρος Παπαναστασίου; 8 July 1876 – 17 November 1936) was a Greek lawyer, sociologist and politician who served twice as the Prime Minister of Greece in the interwar period, being a pion ...
" political research group. In 1967, after the military coup of 21 April, this group was transformed into
Democratic Defense
Democratic Defense () was one of the many anti-dictatorial struggle groups that fought against the Greek military junta of 1967–1974. It evolved from the "Alexandros Papanastasiou" political research group in 1967, as a response to the regime ...
, an organization opposed to the
military regime
A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer.
The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...
. Simitis escaped abroad after planting bombs in the streets of Athens (in later years he acknowledged his activities on Greek MEGA TV channel) in order to avoid being jailed and became a member of the
Panhellenic Liberation Movement
The Panhellenic Liberation Movement ( el, Πανελλήνιο Απελευθερωτικό Κίνημα), also known by its acronym PAK (ΠΑΚ), was one of the many anti-dictatorial movement organisations that campaigned against the 1967–197 ...
(PAK), led by
Andreas Papandreou
Andreas Georgiou Papandreou ( el, Ανδρέας Γεωργίου Παπανδρέου, ; 5 February 1919 – 23 June 1996) was a Greek economist, politician and a dominant figure in Greek politics, known for founding the political party PASOK, wh ...
. He also took up a position as university lecturer in Germany. He returned to Athens in 1974 and was one of the co-founders of PAK's successor, the
Panhellenic Socialist Movement
The Panhellenic Socialist Movement ( el, Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα, Panellínio Sosialistikó Kínima, ), known mostly by its acronym PASOK, (; , ) is a social-democratic political party in Greece. Until 2012, it ...
(PASOK). In 1977 he took up a lecturer's post at the
Panteion University
The Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences ( el, Πάντειον Πανεπιστήμιο Κοινωνικών και Πολιτικών Επιστημών), usually referred to simply as the Panteion University, is a university loc ...
.
Ministerial offices
Simitis was not a candidate for the Greek Parliament in the
1981 elections, but he was appointed Minister of Agriculture in the first PASOK government of that year. Following the
1985 elections and his election as a deputy to the Parliament, he became Minister of National Economy; he undertook an unpopular stabilization program, trying to curb inflation and reduce deficits, but resigned his post in 1987 because he felt that his policies were being undermined. In 1993 he took over the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, but in 1995 he again resigned from the ministry and the party's Executive Bureau following a public rebuke he received by Prime Minister
Papandreou Papandreou () is a Greek surname. It is the surname of:
* Andreas Papandreou (1919–1996), Greek economist and politician and Prime Minister of Greece.
* Dimitrios Papandreou (1891–1949), Archbishop Damaskinos of Athens.
* George Papandreou (bo ...
.
Rise to the offices of Prime Minister and President of PASOK
On 16 January 1996 Papandreou resigned as Prime Minister due to ill health. In a special election held by the party's parliamentary group on 18 January, Simitis was elected in his place, over the candidacies of
Akis Tsochatzopoulos
Apostolos-Athanasios "Akis" Tsochatzopoulos ( el, Απόστολος-Αθανάσιος (Άκης) Τσοχατζόπουλος; 31 July 1939 – 27 August 2021) was a Greek politician, engineer, and economist. He served as a minister in several ...
,
Gerasimos Arsenis and
Ioannis Charalampopoulos. Papandreou however remained Chairman of the party for the next months until his death on 23 June (also Simitis' 60th birthday), just before a party conference would select the party's vice-president; after Papandreou's death, the conference would elect the new Party President. Simitis was elected in PASOK's Fourth Congress on 30 June, defeating Akis Tsochatzopoulos on a platform of support for the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
.
Simitis then led the party in the
national elections of 22 September 1996, gaining a mandate in his own right. He also narrowly won the
national election of 2000. He worked very closely and had a good relationship with his
Cabinet Secretary of 8 years,
Sokratis Kosmidis. Although he is widely respected throughout Europe, in Greece Simitis was regarded by some Greeks as a rather dull technocrat, lacking the charisma of Papandreou.
On 7 January 2004, with PASOK's popularity collapsing, Simitis announced that he would resign as party president and would not stand for re-election as Prime Minister in the
forthcoming legislative elections. At the time he was accused of bowing out to avoid humiliation at the polls. However, by the end of his tenure on 10 March, he would be in office for over 8 consecutive years, the longest continuous term in modern Greek history. In a past interview Simitis had already stated that he would remain prime minister for only 2 legislative periods, since "he wanted to do other things in his life as well". On 8 January he called elections for the position of party president to be held on 8 February. Simitis was succeeded as PASOK leader by then-Minister of Foreign Affairs
George Papandreou
George Andreas Papandreou ( el, Γεώργιος Ανδρέας Παπανδρέου, , shortened to ''Giorgos'' () to distinguish him from his grandfather; born 16 June 1952) is a Greek politician who served as Prime Minister of Greece from ...
, the only candidate in these elections. Despite Papandreou's personal popularity, PASOK lost the
7 March elections to the conservative
New Democracy
New Democracy, or the New Democratic Revolution, is a concept based on Mao Zedong's Bloc of Four Social Classes theory in Chinese Communist Revolution, post-revolutionary China which argued originally that democracy in China would take a path ...
party, whose leader
Kostas Karamanlis
Konstantinos A. Karamanlis ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Αλεξάνδρου Καραμανλής; born 14 September 1956), commonly known as Kostas Karamanlis ( el, Κώστας Καραμανλής, ), is a Greek politician who served as the ...
succeeded Simitis in the office of Prime Minister.
Political activity after 2004
After the 2004 electoral defeat, Simitis remained a Member of the Hellenic Parliament for Piraeus, sitting on the Standing Committee on National Defence and Foreign Affairs. Re-elected in
September 2007, he entered in a conflict with his successor as PASOK leader George Papandreou on the political choices of the party. In June 2008, he was excluded from the PASOK parliamentary group after opposing Papandreou's position in favour of a referendum on the
Treaty of Lisbon
The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by the EU member sta ...
, which he had helped to draft as member of the
Amato Group
The Amato Group, officially the Action Committee for European Democracy (ACED) was a group of high-level European politicians unofficially working on rewriting the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe into what became known as the Treaty ...
. Though never formally excluded from the party, he kept his distance with the leadership and could not come to terms with Papandreou in time to be candidate for the
2009 elections
The following elections occurred in the year 2009.
* Electoral calendar 2009
* 2009 United Nations Security Council election
Caribbean
* 2009 Antiguan general election
* 2009 Aruban general election
* 2009 Caymanian constitutional referendu ...
, upon which he definitively left his MP seat for Piraeus.
Policies and legacy
Financial policies
Simitis is largely known in Greece for his political philosophy which is known as "Eksynchronismos" (''modernization'') which focused on extensive
public investment and
infrastructure
Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...
works as well as economic and labor reforms. Simitis is credited by his supporters with overcoming chronic problems of the Greek economy and thus achieving the admittance of Greece into the
Eurozone
The euro area, commonly called eurozone (EZ), is a currency union of 19 member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro (€) as their primary currency and sole legal tender, and have thus fully implemented EMU policies ...
. During the period of his governance, official data presented inflation as having decreased from 15% to 3%, public deficits diminished from 14% to 3%, GDP increasing at an annual average of 4% and factual labor incomes having increased at a rate of 3% per year. However, the macroeconomic data presented by Simitis' government were called into question by an audit performed by the successor government of New Democracy in 2004.
Many large-scale infrastructure projects were carried out or begun during the so-called 'era of Eksychronismos', such as the new
"Eleftherios Venizelos" Athens International Airport, the
Rio-Antirio bridge, the
Athens Metro
The Athens Metro ( el, Μετρό Αθήνας, Metro Athinas, translit-std=iso) is a rapid-transit system in Greece which serves the Athens urban area and parts of East Attica. Line 1 opened as a conventional steam railway in 1869 and electrif ...
and the
Egnatia Odos.
Internal issues
![PASOK MPs in the Greek parliament during 2009 budget discussion](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/PASOK_MPs_in_the_Greek_parliament_during_2009_budget_discussion.jpg)
In 2000, Simitis was embroiled in a dispute with the Archbishop of the influential
Greek Orthodox Church
The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also call ...
,
Christodoulos of Athens
Christodoulos (17 January 1939 – 28 January 2008) ( el, Χριστόδουλος, born Christos Paraskevaidis, ''Χρήστος Παρασκευαΐδης'') was Archbishop of Athens and All Greece and as such the primate of the Autocephalous O ...
, when the Greek government sought to remove the "Religion" field from the national ID cards carried by Greek citizens on the grounds that the Hellenic Data Protection Authority recommended so; its decision also included the "Nationality" field, but was not implemented following a subsequent EE directive to the contrary. Christodoulos opposed the decision, claiming that the action pursued deviously the religious de-identification of the Greek nation. Faced by the government's robust but unpopular stance, he organised two massive demonstrations in
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
and
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
, alongside a majority of bishops of the Church of Greece. The attitude of Simitis gained faint-hearted support even within his party, but found a surprisingly militant ally in the ''Eksychronismos'' opinion makers. Kostas Karamanlis, the opposition leader, signed a petition, organized by the
Church of Greece
The Church of Greece ( el, Ἐκκλησία τῆς Ἑλλάδος, Ekklēsía tē̂s Helládos, ), part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Its ...
, calling for a referendum on the matter and signed, too, by more than three million citizens. However, the inclusion of religious beliefs on ID cards, even on a voluntary basis, as the Church had asked, was deemed unconstitutional by the Greek courts.
Foreign policy
![Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg-34](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Vladimir_Putin_in_Saint_Petersburg-34.jpg)
While PASOK traditionalists disliked his move away from the more traditional/orthodox norms of the
Democratic socialism
Democratic socialism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self- ...
of
Andreas Papandreou
Andreas Georgiou Papandreou ( el, Ανδρέας Γεωργίου Παπανδρέου, ; 5 February 1919 – 23 June 1996) was a Greek economist, politician and a dominant figure in Greek politics, known for founding the political party PASOK, wh ...
' policies, and also his relative moderation on issues such as the
Cyprus dispute
The Cyprus problem, also known as the Cyprus dispute, Cyprus issue, Cyprus question or Cyprus conflict, is an ongoing dispute between Greek Cypriots in the south and Turkish Cypriots in the north. Initially, with the Modern history of Cyprus#In ...
and the
Macedonia naming dispute
The use of the country name "Macedonia (terminology), Macedonia" was disputed between Greece and the North Macedonia, Republic of Macedonia (now North Macedonia) between 1991 and 2019. The dispute was a source of instability in the Balkans#W ...
, his supporters saw both of these as positive elements of the ''eksynchronismos'' movement that Simitis was seen as spearheading.
During January–June 2003, Simitis, as Greek Prime Minister, exercised the
presidency of the European Council.
Controversy and criticism
In 1996, the appointment of the PASOK-leaning ''
To Vima
''To Vima'' ( el, Το Βήμα, lit=The Tribune) is a Greek weekly newspaper first published in 1922 by Dimitris Lambrakis, the father of Christos Lambrakis, as ''Elefthero Vima'' (Free Tribune).
It was owned by Lambrakis Press Group (DOL), a ...
'' newspaper editor, Stavros Psycharis, as political administrator of
Mount Athos
Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the penins ...
was particularly criticised by the opposition.
Siemens bribery scandal
A major issue during Simitis' tenure concerned corruption, which become endemic in Greek public life (including the
Siemens Greek bribery scandal, incidents like
Akis Tsochatzopoulos
Apostolos-Athanasios "Akis" Tsochatzopoulos ( el, Απόστολος-Αθανάσιος (Άκης) Τσοχατζόπουλος; 31 July 1939 – 27 August 2021) was a Greek politician, engineer, and economist. He served as a minister in several ...
, who later was imprisoned for criminal actions for the purchase of the German type 214 submarines) etc.
Siemens CEO, Michalis Christoforakos, during his trial in Germany testified to has bribed (2%) both the two major political parties, ND and PASOK (through Geitonas and Tsoukatos, partner of Kostas Simitis). The money according to Tsoukatos were put in the cash desk of PASOK.
As of 2018, Simitis was under prosecutor investigation regarding the Siemens Greek bribery scandal, but was later exonerated.
Validity of statistical data
New Democracy revised the size of the defense expenditures for the years 1997-2003, by changing the regulation for the cost accounting of the defense expenditures, from the date of delivery of war material (delivery basis), which was at the time followed by half the countries of the EU, to the payment date of the advance payments (cash basis). Eurostat accepted the change, because of the lack of reliable data for the deliveries of war material. By the revision of the defense expenditures of 1999 the deficit of 1999, the year of the Greek economy’s evaluation, amounted to 3.1%. Since 2005, Eurostat changed its rules records the defense expenditures according to the delivery date for all the countries of the EU including Greece. Eurostat requested then the member countries to correct their data retroactively. Greece did not proceed to the rectification.
The deficit of 1999, year of the Greek economy’s evaluation, is still presented to be 3.1% of the Gross National product (GNP), greater than the Maastricht criterion for a deficit lower than 3% of the GNP. Subsequent revisions of the data show also other countries exceeding the fiscal deficit (government deficit) of 3% during the evaluation period. Thus, in 1997, which is the year of the evaluation of the first countries that became members of the Euro zone, the deficit of France was 3.3%, of Spain 3.4% and of Portugal 3.4%.
Other
Other points of criticism included the financial crash of 1999 in the
Athens Exchange
The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE or ATHEX; el, Χρηματιστήριο Αθηνών (Χ.Α.), ''Chrimatistírio Athinón'') is the stock exchange of Greece, based in the capital city of Athens. It was founded in 1876. There are currently five ...
, such as his handling on the
Abdullah Öcalan
Abdullah Öcalan ( ; ; born 4 April 1949), also known as Apo (short for Abdullah in Turkish and Kurdish for "uncle"), is a political prisoner and founding member of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Öcalan was based in Syria from ...
's capture and the
Imia incident regarding the foreign relations with Turkey.
Simitis rejected New Democracy's bills for accountability and transparency with regards to governmental expenditure and decisions, while New Democracy leader
Kostas Karamanlis
Konstantinos A. Karamanlis ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Αλεξάνδρου Καραμανλής; born 14 September 1956), commonly known as Kostas Karamanlis ( el, Κώστας Καραμανλής, ), is a Greek politician who served as the ...
accused Simitis during a parliamentary plenum of being an "archpriest of cronyism", referencing the index of the NGO
Transparency International
Transparency International e.V. (TI) is a German registered association founded in 1993 by former employees of the World Bank. Based in Berlin, its nonprofit and non-governmental purpose is to take action to combat global corruption with civil ...
. However, Greece's position has fallen by 5 places in the same index during the New Democracy government (2004-2009). Four years later Karamanlis himself admitted that he exaggerated and that he never doubted Simitis' personal integrity.
Works
Simitis has authored several books and articles on legal and economic issues as well as on politics.
Political works
* "Structural Opposition", Athens 1979
* "Politics, Government and Law", Athens 1981
* "Politics of Financial stabilization", N. Garganas, T. Thomopoulos, Costas Simitis, G. Spraos, introduction-preface: Costas Simitis, Athens 1989, Gnosi Publications
* "Populism and Politics", N. Mouzelis, T. Lipovach, M. Spourdalakis, introduction Costas Simitis, Athens 1989, Gnosi Publications
* "Development and modernisation of the Greek Society", Athens 1989, Gnosi Publications
* "Views on the politic strategy of PASOK", Athens, 1990
* "Propositions for another politics", Athens 1992, Gnosi Publications
* "Nationalist Populism or national strategy;", Athens 1992, Gnosi Publications
* "Let's dare united", Athens 1994
* "For a strong society and a strong Greece", Athens 1995, Plethron Publications
* "For a financially strong and socially fair Greece", Athens 2002, Kastanioti Publications
* "For a strong in Europe and in the world Greece", Athens 2002, Kastanioti Publications
* "For a strong, modern and democratic Greece", Athens 2002, Kastanioti Publications
* "Politics for a Creative Greece 1996–2004" ("Πολιτική για μια Δημιουργική Ελλάδα 1996–2004" in Greek), Athens 2005, Polis Publications
* "Objectives, Strategy and Perspectives", Athens 2007, Polis Publications
* "Democracy in Crisis?", Athens 2007, Polis Publications
See also
*
Politics of Greece
Greece is a parliamentary representative democratic republic, where the President of Greece is the head of state and the Prime Minister of Greece is the head of government within a multi-party system. Legislative power is vested in both the gov ...
*
List of prime ministers of Greece
This is a list of the Head of government, heads of government of the History of modern Greece, modern Greek state, from its establishment during the Greek War of Independence, Greek Revolution to the present day. Although various official and se ...
References
External links
His profile in Who is Who at NatoSimitis' article on Greece's deficit revision in 2004 by the new governmentas posted in
Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...
*
Website of Costas Simitis
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Simitis, Costas
1936 births
20th-century prime ministers of Greece
21st-century prime ministers of Greece
Alumni of the London School of Economics
Economy ministers of Greece
20th-century Greek economists
Greek MPs 1996–2000
Greek MPs 2000–2004
Greek MPs 2004–2007
Greek MPs 2007–2009
Leaders of PASOK
Living people
Ministers of National Education and Religious Affairs of Greece
Agriculture ministers of Greece
Panteion University faculty
Politicians from Piraeus
Prime Ministers of Greece
University of Giessen faculty
University of Konstanz faculty
University of Marburg alumni
University of Marburg faculty
Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 1st Class
Members of the Panhellenic Liberation Movement