Kyriakos Mitsotakis ( el, Κυριάκος Μητσοτάκης, ; born 4 March 1968) is a Greek politician serving as the
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� ...
since 8 July 2019. A member of the
New Democracy, he has been its president since 2016. He previously was
Leader of the Opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
from 2016 to 2019, and
Minister of Administrative Reform from 2013 to 2015.
He was first elected to the
Hellenic Parliament for the
Athens B
Athens B (Athens Beta; el, Β΄ Αθηνών) was a parliamentary constituency in Attica represented in the Hellenic Parliament. It covered a large part of urban area of Athens outside the Municipality of Athens, which forms the Athens A cons ...
constituency
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...
in
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...
. 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 election.
During Mitsotakis' term as PM, he has received praise for being
pro-European
Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Polit ...
and governing
technocratic,
his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic,
his handling of migration,
and his handling of the Greek economy, with Greece being named the Top Economic Performer for 2022 by ''
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...
''.
This 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 euro zone countries under the first bailout it received during its decade-long debt crisis.
Although Mitsotakis has also received criticism as Greece has experienced a democratic backsliding and heightened corruption,
with a deterioration of
freedom of the press,
and was marred by the
Novartis corruption scandal and the
2022 wiretapping scandal.
Early life
Kyriakos Mitsotakis was born 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 a ...
on 4 March 1968, the son of
Marika (née Giannoukou) and former
Greek prime minister
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
New Democracy president
Konstantinos Mitsotakis
Konstantinos Mitsotakis ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Μητσοτάκης, ; – 29 May 2017) was a Greek politician who was 7th Prime Minister of Greece from 1990 to 1993. He graduated in law and economics from the University of Athens. His ...
. At the time of his birth, his family had been placed under house arrest by the
Greek military junta that had declared his father
persona non grata and imprisoned him on the night of the coup. In 1968, when he was six months old, the family escaped to
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
with the help of
Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs İhsan Sabri Çağlayangil. After a while, they moved from Turkey to
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
and waited until 1974 to return to Greece after
democracy had been restored. Later, Mitsotakis described the first six months of his life as
political imprisonment
A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention.
There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...
.
In 1986, Mitsotakis graduated from
Athens College
Athens College ( el, Κολλέγιο(ν) Αθηνών; formally Hellenic-American Educational Foundation (HAEF)) is a co-educational private preparatory school in Psychiko, Greece, a suburb of Athens, part of the Hellenic-American Educational ...
. From 1986 to 1990, he attended
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...
and earned a bachelor's degree in
social studies, receiving the
Hoopes Prize. Later, his senior thesis was published as a book titled «The Pitfalls of Foreign Policy» receiving mixed reviews. From 1992 to 1993, he attended
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...
, earning a
Ford Dorsey Master's in International Policy. From 1993 to 1995, he attended
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA ...
, where he earned an
MBA.
Professional career
From 1990 to 1991 Kyriakos Mitsotakis worked as a
financial analyst
A financial analyst is a professional, undertaking financial analysis for external or internal clients as a core feature of the job.
The role may specifically be titled securities analyst, research analyst, equity analyst, investment analyst, ...
at the
corporate finance
Corporate finance is the area of finance that deals with the sources of funding, the capital structure of corporations, the actions that managers take to increase the value of the firm to the shareholders, and the tools and analysis used to all ...
division of
Chase Bank in London. From 1991 to 1992, Mitsotakis returned to Greece and joined the
Hellenic Army
The Hellenic Army ( el, Ελληνικός Στρατός, Ellinikós Stratós, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term ''Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is th ...
to fulfil his mandatory
national service
National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939.
The ...
obligations. From 1995 to 1997, and following the completion of his post-graduate studies, he was employed by the consultancy
McKinsey & Company
McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. McKinsey is the oldest and ...
in London, focusing primarily on the
telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that ...
s and
financial services industries. From 1997 to 1999 he worked for Alpha Ventures, a
private equity
In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a t ...
subsidiary of
Alpha Bank
Alpha Bank is the second largest Greek bank by total assets, and the largest by market capitalization of €2.13 billion (as of 4 December 2018). It has a subsidiary and branch in London, England and subsidiaries in Albania, Cyprus and Romani ...
, as a senior investment officer, executing venture capital and private equity transactions. In 1999 he founded NBG Venture Capital, the private equity and venture capital subsidiary of the
National Bank of Greece, and acted as its
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
, managing its portfolio and executing transactions in Greece and the
Balkans
The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
, until April 2003, when he resigned to pursue a career in politics.
In January 2003, he was nominated by the
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...
as a global leader of tomorrow.
Political career
During the
2000 legislative election, Mitsotakis worked for New Democracy's national campaign. In the
2004 legislative election, Mitsotakis ran in the
Athens B
Athens B (Athens Beta; el, Β΄ Αθηνών) was a parliamentary constituency in Attica represented in the Hellenic Parliament. It covered a large part of urban area of Athens outside the Municipality of Athens, which forms the Athens A cons ...
constituency, receiving more votes than any other New Democracy candidate in the country and was elected to the
Hellenic Parliament.
Mitsotakis is honorary president of Konstantinos K. Mitsotakis Foundation, aiming at promoting the life and works of
Konstantinos Mitsotakis
Konstantinos Mitsotakis ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Μητσοτάκης, ; – 29 May 2017) was a Greek politician who was 7th Prime Minister of Greece from 1990 to 1993. He graduated in law and economics from the University of Athens. His ...
and at reporting the modern political history of Greece.
On 24 June 2013, Mitsotakis was appointed as the
Minister of Administrative Reform and e-Governance in
Antonis Samaras' cabinet, succeeding
Antonis Manitakis. He served in this position until January 2015. During this time, he pursued comprehensive national reforms by implementing a functional reorganization of institutions, structures and processes. He steadfastly supported the drastic downsizing of the
Public Sector
The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, inf ...
and the structural reform of the tax administration.
In 2015, Mitsotakis served as a parliamentary representative for New Democracy, representing the President of the party in Parliament, as well as the body of the party's Representatives. He was charged with expressing the positions of his party during Parliamentary procedures and discourse, as well as ensuring the proper function of Parliament through a process of checks and balances. In March 2015, he claimed that then-Minister of Finance
Yanis Varoufakis was undermining the Greek negotiations over the
third bailout programme, saying: "Every time he opens his mouth, he creates a problem for the country's negotiating position."
Mitsotakis was the first of four New Democracy members to announce their candidacy in the
leadership election, declared following the resignation of
Antonis Samaras as party leader and the failure of New Democracy in the
September 2015 snap election. Amongst the other contestants was then-interim leader and former
Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament Vangelis Meimarakis
Evangelos-Vasileios "Vangelis" Meimarakis ( el, Ευάγγελος-Βασίλειος "Βαγγέλης" Μεϊμαράκης, ; born 14 December 1953), is a Greek lawyer and politician who served as the acting President of New Democracy and Leade ...
. According to the ''
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 ...
'', Mitsotakis was "billed as an outsider in the leadership race" due to the party establishment's support of Meimarakis' candidacy.
Following the first round of voting with no clear winner, Mitsotakis came second, 11% behind Meimarakis.
On 10 January 2016, Mitsotakis was elected president of the
New Democracy political party succeeding
Ioannis Plakiotakis (transitional president) with almost 4% difference from opponent
Vangelis Meimarakis
Evangelos-Vasileios "Vangelis" Meimarakis ( el, Ευάγγελος-Βασίλειος "Βαγγέλης" Μεϊμαράκης, ; born 14 December 1953), is a Greek lawyer and politician who served as the acting President of New Democracy and Leade ...
. A week following Mitsotakis' election as leader, two opinion polls were published that put New Democracy ahead of
Syriza
The Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance ( el, Συνασπισμός Ριζοσπαστικής Αριστεράς – Προοδευτική Συμμαχία, Synaspismós Rizospastikís Aristerás – Proodeftikí Simachía), ...
for the first time in a year.
His party won 33% of the votes in the European elections in 2019. He managed to win back votes from the
Golden Dawn
Golden Dawn or The Golden Dawn may refer to:
Organizations
* Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a nineteenth century magical order based in Britain
** The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Inc., a modern revival founded in 1977
** Open Source ...
Party. Following the election results, the Hellenic Parliament was dissolved and a snap election was called.
Prime Minister of Greece
New Democracy was victorious in the
2019 legislative election, scoring 39.85% of votes and securing 158 seats in the
Hellenic Parliament.
On 8 July 2019, Greek President
Prokopis Pavlopoulos
Prokopios Pavlopoulos ( el, Προκόπιος Παυλόπουλος, ; born 10 July 1950), commonly shortened to Prokopis (Προκόπης), is a Greek lawyer, university professor and politician who served as the president of Greece from 2015 ...
accepted Tsipras' resignation and tasked Mitsotakis with forming a new government. Mitsotakis was sworn in as prime minister the same day as well.
On 9 July, the
ministers in his government were sworn in. Among his cabinet was
Makis Voridis
Mavroudis (Makis) Voridis ( el, Μαυρουδής (Μάκης) Χρήστου Βορίδης) (born 23 August 1964) is a Greek politician and lawyer. His previous and current involvement with far-right rhetoric and past association with dicta ...
, a former member of the far-right
Popular Orthodox Rally, who was met with a cold reception abroad and by the Jewish community in Greece.
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
announced that it would not cooperate with Voridis.
From 2019 onwards, it is launching a wave of privatizations, including tourism infrastructure, coastal land, and state-owned shares in the gas and electricity companies and Athens airport. On the other hand, a tax reform aimed at making the country "a haven for billionaires and the wealthiest citizens", the ''Financial Times'' notes, is being implemented. The aim is to attract investment by offering low tax rates. A clause will protect the beneficiaries of this tax policy from possible policy changes by future governments.
The "big growth bill", adopted in the summer of 2020, provides for the restriction of the right to strike and the abolition of collective agreements, which had already been suspended in 2012 at the request of the Troika and then reinstated by the Tsipras government. Migration policy has been tightened: the coverage of hospital care for destitute foreigners has been abolished and the period during which refugees who have been granted asylum can reside in public housing has been reduced from six months to one month. On environmental issues, the government reformed legislation to facilitate oil exploration.
Mitsotakis' government has been praised by observers for its handling of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
as well as for its plans for spending a €31bn share of the EU's
Recovery Plan and for its orderly vaccination roll-out. Additionally, the common Covid-19 certificate was credited to Mitsotakis, and his idea has been taken up at a European level.
Mitsotakis had criticized the initially slow pace of the EU's COVID-19 vaccine rollout, and he had called for its acceleration.
Measures were implemented from March to May 2020 and from November 2020 until May 2021, when their gradual lifting started. The controls included the introduction of various movement restrictions, the suspension of operation of retail, catering and entertainment businesses, as well as schools and churches.
In August 2020, a reform of the labour law was adopted. It provides for the possibility of an employer to dismiss employees without having to give reasons for the decision or give prior notice to the persons concerned. The tax authorities' anti-fraud unit was abolished and its employees integrated into the Ministry of Finance.
There is a long-standing
dispute between Turkey and Greece over natural resources in the eastern Mediterranean. Mitsotakis said that
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
"remains stuck in the logic of using force and threats." He told
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...
Secretary General
Jens Stoltenberg
Jens Stoltenberg (born 16 March 1959) is a Norwegian politician who has been serving as the 13th secretary general of NATO since 2014. A member of the Norwegian Labour Party, he previously served as the 34th prime minister of Norway from 2000 to ...
that Greece is "contributing to NATO, we are an ally and have the expectation that when another NATO ally is behaving in a way that jeopardises our interests, NATO should not adopt this stance of equal distances and non-intervention in internal differences. It is deeply unfair to Greece."
In July 2020, Mitsotakis awarded honorary Greek citizenship to American actor
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...
and his wife, American actress
Rita Wilson, the latter of whom is half Greek.
On May 16, 2022, Mitsotakis met with
U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House. On the next day, Mitsotakis became the first Prime Minister of Greece to address a
Joint session of the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...
at the invitation of U.S.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
During Mitsotakis' term as PM, he has received praise for being
pro-European
Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Polit ...
and governing
technocratic,
his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic,
his handling of migration,
and his handling of the Greek economy, with Greece being named the Top Economic Performer for 2022 by
the Economist. This 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 euro zone countries under the first bailout it received during its decade-long debt crisis.
Although Mitsotakis has also received criticism as Greece has experienced a democratic backsliding and heightened corruption,
with a deterioration of
freedom of the press,
and was marred by the
Novartis corruption scandal and the
2022 wiretapping scandal.
Migration
Mitsotakis adopted a hardline stance on the
European Migrant Crisis by resorting to human rights violations, including
pushbacks of thousands of migrants in an attempt to prevent their entry into Greece.
He received praise from the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
for his handling of the crisis and received economic support of €700m.
Lockdown violations
In December 2020, Mitsotakis was criticized after a photo of him surfaced on social media, in which he posed with five other people while not wearing a mask, during a time when Greece had a nationwide lockdown and mask wearing was mandatory both indoors and outdoors.
On 6 February 2021 Mitsotakis visited the island of
Icaria to inspect the progress of COVID-19 vaccinations in the area. During this visit, he attended a lunch organized by MP
Christodoulos I. Stefanadis along with his entourage numbering up to 40 people. The incident was covered by both Greek and international media and Mitsotakis was heavily criticized for violating the existing COVID-19 containment measures.
Mitsotakis publicly apologized for the Icaria incident, saying this will never happen again and that "the image hurt the citizens".
Mandatory COVID-19 measures and vaccinations
In May 2021, when the Mitsotakis government announced the country's opening for tourism on 14 May, it was criticised initially, because movement control measures, such as the obligation to send an SMS at particular sites, were retained temporarily. Other measures still in place after the re-opening of tourism were the daily curfew, from 00:30, the obligatory use of face masks indoors and outdoors, the ban on music in cafes and restaurants, and the ban on the operation of indoor restaurants throughout May. Casinos were allowed to operate, with a specific sanitary protocol. In an interview on 27 May 2021, Mitsotakis did not give a clear answer as to when and if the above measures would be lifted in the summer. He referred to a roadmap for lifting the controls, but did not elaborate. He also estimated that tourism in 2021 in Greece would be around 50% of levels experienced in 2019. Despite criticism, Greece was awarded the "Global Champion Award for COVID-19 Crisis Management" by the
World Travel and Tourism Council, which "commends" the Greek Government as "a global example for the safe opening of the tourism sector during the pandemic."
Press freedom
Under Mitsotakis, Greece has declined in press freedom. Violence against journalists has also increased, resulting to a deterioration of the Greek
freedom of the press.
Wiretapping Scandal
In July 2022, the leader of political party PASOK,
Nikos Androulakis, revealed that there was an attempt of bugging his phone with spyware program "Predator". In a closed-door parliamentary hearing that was called by Androulakis, the chief of
Greek Intelligence Service, P. Kontoleon, admitted that his service had spied Greek journalist Thanassis Koukakis, who has also complained about being targeted by "Predator".
After the publication of an investigation by Efsyn and Reporters United that
Grigoris Dimitriadis, Mitsotakis's nephew and general secretary, had connections with Felix Bitsios, the owner of the company that markets the "Predator", Dimitriadis submitted his resignation. Shortly after, the chief of Greek Intelligence Service, Panagiotis Kontoleon, also stepped down over an allegation that his service had tapped Androulakis's phone.
Personal life
Mitsotakis is the younger brother of former
Minister for Foreign Affairs and
Mayor of Athens Dora Bakoyannis, making him the brother-in-law of the late
Pavlos Bakoyannis, who was assassinated by the terrorist group
17 November in 1989 and the uncle of
Kostas Bakoyannis
Kostas Bakoyannis ( el, Κώστας Μπακογιάννης; born 16 March 1978) is a Greek politician. Having served as mayor of the town of Karpenisi, he was popularly elected Regional governor of Central Greece in the 2014 local elections ...
, former Regional Governor of
Central Greece
Continental Greece ( el, Στερεά Ελλάδα, Stereá Elláda; formerly , ''Chérsos Ellás''), colloquially known as Roúmeli (Ρούμελη), is a traditional geographic region of Greece. In English, the area is usually called Central ...
and current
Mayor of Athens.
Mitsotakis is married to Mareva Grabowska, an investment banker with British, Greek, Polish and Egyptian roots. They have three children, Sophia, Konstantinos and Daphne.
In addition to Greek, Mitsotakis speaks English, French and German.
Venizelos/Mitsotakis family tree
See also
List of international trips made by Kyriakos Mitsotakis
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitsotakis, Kyriakos
1968 births
Living people
21st-century prime ministers of Greece
Greek bankers
Greek MPs 2004–2007
Greek MPs 2007–2009
Greek MPs 2009–2012
Greek MPs 2012 (May)
Greek MPs 2012–2014
Greek MPs 2015 (February–August)
Greek MPs 2015–2019
Greek MPs 2019–2023
Prime Ministers of Greece
Harvard Business School alumni
Leaders of New Democracy (Greece)
McKinsey & Company people
Ministers of Administrative Reform and e-Governance of Greece
Kyriakos
New Democracy (Greece) politicians
Politicians from Athens
Stanford University alumni
Businesspeople from Athens
Children of national leaders