Greek politics is shaking up as the country inches toward elections
Greek politics is shaking up, as it seems the shift into campaigning is kicking into a higher gear. A major shakeup is underway within Greece’s opposition, as this week saw Maria Karystianou, the popular former president of the Tempe victims’ relatives’ association, announce she is stepping into the fray with a new party. In the coming days we’re also expected to see a similar announcement from former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras as he looks to establish himself as the candidate that can unite the left and challenge New Democracy.
At the same time, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis made his case for a third term this past weekend at the New Democracy congress in a speech that dismissed early elections while effectively putting the party into pre-campaign mode. One of the most repeated lines of the congress was that ND is “more united than ever”, but the absence of former Prime Ministers Kostas Karamanlis and Antonis Samaras, and persistent rumours of a new party by the latter, have raised questions about how unified the party is.
In the meantime, one of the top issues all parties will need to find answers to is the cost of living crisis and inflation. A recent report in Macropolis.gr outlined just how dramatically inflation has affected Greek households, with consumer prices increasing by 22.6% between January 2020 and December 2025. While cost of living is likely to dominate debates in the coming months, a number of issues on the foreign policy front are also likely to take center stage, including Turkey’s new “Blue Homeland” legislation, Greece’s support for Ukraine, the crisis in the Middle East, and relations with the US.
Tom Ellis, Nick Malkoutzis, Yiannis Mouzakis, and John Psaropoulos join Thanos Davelis as we take a closer look at all of these stories and break down everything you need to know as Greece inches toward elections.
A little more info on our guests:
Tom Ellis is the editor in chief of Kathimerini’s English Edition.
Nick Malkoutzis is the co-founder of Macropolis.gr.
Yiannis Mouzakis is the co-founder of Macropolis.gr.
John Psaropoulos is an independent journalist, Al Jazeera's correspondent in southeast Europe, and publisher of Hellenica on Substack.
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