Nikos Filis ( el, Νίκος Φίλης) is a Greek politician and journalist. He held the office of the Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs of Greece from 23 September 2015 to 5 November 2016.

Early life and education

Filis was born in Athens in 1960. He studied law at the

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...

and was heavily involved in protests at the time. He was a member of both the Central Committee and Senate of the national students union, EFEE, and was secretary of the youth of the

Communist Party of Greece (Interior) The Communist Party of Greece, Interior (), usually abbreviated as KKE Interior (Greek: ''ΚΚΕ Εσωτερικού''), was a Eurocommunist party existing between 1968 and 1987 in Greece. The party was formed after the Communist Party of Greece ...

."Το βιογραφικό του νέου υπουργού Παιδείας Νίκου Φίλη" at naftemporiki.gr
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Journalism

Since 2008, Filis has been the director of the Greek newspaper ''Dawn''. He has been a member of the board of the Greek journalists union, ESIEA. He has worked as an editor at various radio stations, including FLASH, Polis, VimaFm and EPA 4. He has written a number of articles on politics for newspapers ''

Ta Nea ''Ta Nea'' ( el, Τα Νέα, italic=yes; Translation: ''The News'') is a daily newspaper published in Athens. It was owned by Lambrakis Press Group (DOL), which also published the newspaper '' To Vima''. The assets of DOL were acquired in 2017 b ...

'', ''Epochi'' and the magazines ''Anti'' and ''Politis'. He also contributed to the ''Encyclopedia of the Greek Press''.

Political career

Filis is a member of the Central Committee of Syriza. In March 2015, Filis was one of only five Syriza MPs to turn down the offer of a state car. In an interview with Mega TV in May 2015, Filis stated that: "''A state must be ready for every eventuality. A Greek default is a concern of the whole of Europe. There is a systemic risk there. The chosen strategy is to negotiate an agreement but we are ready for every possible outcome.''" As minister of Education and Religious Affairs he clashed with Archbishop Ieronymos about teaching of the religion course in Schools.

Genocide denial

Filis denied the

Pontic Greek Genocide The Greek genocide (, ''Genoktonia ton Ellinon''), which included the Pontic genocide, was the systematic killing of the Christian Ottoman Greek population of Anatolia which was carried out mainly during World War I and its aftermath (1914– ...

, an illegal act in Greece. Many calls were made for him to step down and have his parliamentary immunity stripped so he can be prosecuted. Filis has yet to face prosecution for his Genocide denial. He has also removed the Pontic Genocide from the high school curriculum.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Filis, Nikos Living people 1960 births Syriza politicians Ministers of National Education and Religious Affairs of Greece National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni Greek MPs 2015 (February–August) Greek journalists Greek MPs 2015–2019 Politicians from Athens Greek MPs 2019–2023