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Kyriakos Mitsotakis

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Kyriakos Mitsotakis
Κυριάκος Μητσοτάκης
MP
Prime Minister of Greece
Incumbent
Assumed office
8 July 2019
PresidentProkopis Pavlopoulos
DeputyPanagiotis Pikrammenos
Preceded byAlexis Tsipras
President of New Democracy
Incumbent
Assumed office
11 January 2016
Vice PresidentAdonis Georgiadis
Kostis Hatzidakis
Preceded byIoannis Plakiotakis
Leader of the Opposition
In office
11 January 2016 – 8 July 2019
Prime MinisterAlexis Tsipras
Preceded byIoannis Plakiotakis
Succeeded byAlexis Tsipras
Minister of Administrative Reform
In office
24 June 2013 – 27 January 2015
Prime MinisterAntonis Samaras
Preceded byAntonis Manitakis
Succeeded byNikos Voutsis
Member of the Hellenic Parliament
for Athens B
Incumbent
Assumed office
7 March 2004
Personal details
Born
Kyriakos Alec Mitsotakis

(1968-03-04) 4 March 1968 (age 56)
Athens, Greece
Political partyNew Democracy
SpouseMareva Grabowski
Children3
EducationHarvard University (BA, MBA)
Stanford University (MA)

Kyriakos Mitsotakis (Greek: Κυριάκος Μητσοτάκης; born 4 March 1968) is a Greek politician who is serving as Prime Minister of Greece and the President of New Democracy. He was previously Leader of the Opposition from 2016 to 2019, and also served as Minister of Administrative Reform from 2013 to 2015.

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, on 7 July 2019, he led his party to a majority in the 2019 election, their first since 2007. He is the son of former Prime Minister Konstantinos Mitsotakis.[1][2][3]

Early life and education

Born in Athens, he is the son of the former Prime Minister of Greece and honorary president of New Democracy, Konstantinos Mitsotakis, and his wife Marika. 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.[4] In 1968, with the help of then Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs İhsan Sabri Çağlayangil, the family escaped to Turkey, when Kyriakos Mitsotakis was 1 year old, from where after a while moved to Paris and could only return to Greece in 1974, when democracy was restored.[5] Later on in his life Mitsotakis described the first six months of his life as political imprisonment.[6]

In 1986, he graduated from Athens College. From 1986 to 1990, he attended Harvard University and earned a bachelor's degree in social studies, receiving the Hoopes and Tocqueville prizes. From 1992 to 1993 he attended Stanford University, earning an master's degree in International Relations. From 1993 to 1995, he attended Harvard Business School where he earned an MBA.[7]

Professional career

From 1990 to 1991 Kyriakos Mitsotakis worked as a financial analyst at the corporate finance division of Chase Bank in London. From 1991 to 1992, Mitsotakis returned to Greece and joined the Hellenic Air Force to fulfil his mandatory national service obligations. From 1995 to 1997, and following the completion of his post-graduate studies, he was employed by the consultancy McKinsey & Company in London, focusing primarily on the telecommunications and financial services industries. From 1997 to 1999 he worked for Alpha Ventures, a private equity subsidiary of Alpha Bank, 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 until April 2003, when he resigned to pursue a career in politics, managing its portfolio and executing transactions in Greece and the Balkans.[8][7]

In January 2003 he was nominated by the World Economic Forum as a global leader of tomorrow.[9]

Political career

Mitsotakis at EPP Summit - 20 June 2019

During the 2000 legislative election, Mitsotakis worked for New Democracy's national campaign. In the 2004 legislative election, Mitsotakis ran in the Athens B constituency, receiving more votes than any other New Democracy candidate in the country and was elected to the Hellenic Parliament.[citation needed]

Mitsotakis is honorary president of Konstantinos K. Mitsotakis Foundation, aiming at promoting the life and works of Konstantinos Mitsotakis and at reporting the modern political history of Greece.[citation needed]

In 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 and the structural reform of the tax administration.[10]

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."[11]

Mitsotakis in 2017

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.[12] Amongst the other contestants was then-interim leader and former Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament Vangelis Meimarakis. According to the Financial Times, Mitsotakis was "billed as an outsider in the leadership race" due to the party establishment's support of Meimarakis' candidacy.[13] Following the first round of voting with no clear winner, Mitsotakis came second, 11% behind Meimarakis.[13]

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. A week following Mitsotakis' election as leader, two opinion polls were published that put New Democracy ahead of Syriza for the first time in a year.[14]

In his words he "is an ardent defender of a small and efficient state, education reform, the fight against red-tape and monopolistic practices that impede development and the fight against partisanship and cronyism in government".[8]

His party won 33% of the votes in the European elections in 2019. He campaigns on nationalist issues by criticizing the Prespa agreement on the name of North Macedonia and criticising the policies for welcoming exiles. In particular, he managed to win back votes from the Golden Dawn Party.[15] Following the election results, the Hellenic Parliament was dissolved and a snap election was called.[16]

Controversy

Siemens scandal allegations

In 2007, it was reported that Mitsotakis was involved in the Siemens Greek bribery scandal.[17] However, Mitsotakis has repeatedly denied any involvement and no indication of guilt has so far been proven. The Siemens trial, in which Mitsotakis is not involved, is still pending.[18]

Electronic office equipment, call centers, air conditioners etc. worth approx. €130,000 was received in the period preceding the 2007 elections (June to September 2007) by Mitsotakis from Siemens and two of its subsidiaries. The invoices indicate payment period of up to 60 days, however no part of the amount was paid until February 2008, when part of it was paid, just when the Siemens case was reopened by the courts, and an amount of €43,850 was paid by check from Mr. Mitsotakis on Monday June 2. Earlier (on 29 May) testimonies had been made about "donations and grants by Siemens to politicians" and on 30 May 2008 the prosecutor's investigation took place at the company's offices.[19]

Prime Minister of Greece

New Democracy won a landslide victory 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 accepted Tsipras's resignation and tasked Mitsotakis with forming a new government.[20] Mitsotakis was sworn in as Prime Minister the same day as well.[2][3][1]

Personal life

Mitsotakis is married to Mareva Grabowski and has three children.[21]

In addition to Greek, he speaks English, French and German.[22]

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,[23] former Regional Governor of Central Greece and current Mayor of Athens.

Venizelos/Mitsotakis family tree

Main members of the Venizelos/Mitsotakis family.[24] Prime Ministers of Greece are highlighted in light blue.
Kyriakos Venizelos [la]
(?–1883)		Styliani Ploumidaki
(1830–1897)
Eleftherios Venizelos
(1864–1936)		Katingo Venizelou
(1858–1934)		Constantine "Costis" Mitsotakis [el]
(1845–1898)
Kyriakos Venizelos [el]
(1892–1942)		Sofoklis Venizelos
(1894–1964)		Kyriakos Mitsotakis [el]
(1892–1942)		Stavroula Ploumidaki[25]
(1896–1983)
Nikitas Venizelos
(1930–2020)		Konstantinos Mitsotakis
(1918–2017)		Marika Giannoukou
(1930–2012)
Pavlos Bakoyannis
(1935–1989)		Dora Bakoyannis
née Mitsotaki
(b. 1954)		Kyriakos Mitsotakis
(b. 1968)
Kostas Bakoyannis
(b. 1978)

References

  1. ^ a b "Kyriakos Mitsotakis sworn in as Greece's new prime minister". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved Jul 8, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Smith, Helena (Jul 8, 2019). "Mitsotakis takes over as Greece's PM with radical change of style". Retrieved Jul 8, 2019 – via www.theguardian.com.
  3. ^ a b Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche. "Greek conservative Mitsotakis sworn in as prime minister | DW | 08.07.2019". DW.COM. Retrieved Jul 8, 2019.
  4. ^ "Η εξήγηση Μητσοτάκη για το "έξι μηνών πολιτικός κρατούμενος": Η χούντα δεν άφηνε τη μητέρα μου να βγει από το σπίτι της". HuffPost Greece. 22 July 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  5. ^ Akten, Sertaç; Alan, Gülsüm (July 4, 2019). "Yunanistan erken genel seçimleri ile ilgili bilmeniz gereken her şey". Euronews (Türkçe). Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  6. ^ "Τι απαντά ο Κυριάκος Μητσοτάκης από το Facebook ότι ήταν "πολιτικός κρατούμενος, 6 μηνών" - Δημοκρατική της Ρόδου". 22 July 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2019 – via www.dimokratiki.gr.
  7. ^ a b "Kyriakos Mitsotakis". Concordia. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  8. ^ a b https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyriakosmitsotakis/
  9. ^ "Kyriakos Mitsotakis - Delphi Economic Forum". www.delphiforum.gr. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  10. ^ https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyriakosmitsotakis/?originalSubdomain=gr
  11. ^ "Varoufakis undermining Greek negotiations, says Mitsotakis". Kathimerini. 9 March 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  12. ^ "Mitsotakis first to declare will run for ND leadership". Kathimerini. 22 September 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  13. ^ a b Hope, Kerin (10 January 2016). "Free-market reformer Mitsotakis wins vote to lead Greece opposition party". Financial Times. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  14. ^ "Greek opposition ahead of Syriza for first time in a year". AFP. 17 January 2016. Retrieved 19 January 2016 – via Yahoo News.
  15. ^ "Grèce. Syriza devancée par la droite conservatrice". L'Humanité. May 27, 2019. Retrieved Jul 8, 2019.
  16. ^ "Greece headed to snap elections after Syriza defeat in EU vote". www.euronews.com. Retrieved 2019-07-08. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  17. ^ "Ελευθεροτυπία - Τιμολόγια για τρεις Μητσοτάκηδες στη "Ζίμενς"". Archived from the original on February 25, 2011. Retrieved 2017-05-09. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  18. ^ "Υπόθεση Siemens: Στις 24 Φεβρουαρίου αρχίζει η δίκη".
  19. ^ "Ο Στουρνάρας, ο Κυριάκος και το τεράστιο πολιτικό σκάνδαλο της Siemens". Mignatiou.com. 2015-12-23. Retrieved 2016-06-21.
  20. ^ Service, Reuters News (2019-07-08). "Greek conservative Mitsotakis sworn in as prime minister". Cyprus Mail. Retrieved 2019-07-08. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  21. ^ greece.greekreporter.com
  22. ^ "New Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis is a scion of one of Greece's most influential political families | Neos Kosmos". English Edition. Jul 7, 2019. Retrieved Jul 8, 2019.
  23. ^ "Greece's top family dynasty in bid for PM, Athens mayor". May 31, 2019. Retrieved Jul 8, 2019.
  24. ^ Constantine Mitsotakis institute. "Biography – Roots". Retrieved 2015-12-23.
  25. ^ Stavroula Ploumidaki is also a first cousin, once removed, of Eleftherios Venizelos
Party political offices
Preceded by President of New Democracy
2016–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Administrative Reform
2013–2015 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Leader of the Opposition
2016–2019 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Prime Minister of Greece
2019–present 		Incumbent

This page incorporates information from the Hellenic Parliament website

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