Kyriakos Mitsotakis

Kyriakos Mitsotakis (Greek: Κυριάκος Μητσοτάκης, Kyriákos Mitsotákis [ciɾˈʝakos mit͡soˈtacis]; born 4 March 1968) is a Greek politician currently serving as the prime minister of Greece since June 2023, previously holding the office from July 2019 to May 2023. He is president of the New Democracy party since 2016. On 26 June 2023, Mitsotakis won a second term as prime minister after winning the June 2023 Greek legislative election. Mitsotakis previously was Leader of the Opposition from 2016 to 2019, and Minister of Administrative Reform from 2013 to 2015. He is the son of the late Konstantinos Mitsotakis, who was Prime Minister of Greece from 1990 to 1993. 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, he led his party to a majority in the 2019 Greek legislative election.

Following the May 2023 Greek legislative election in which no party won a majority and no coalition government was formed by any of the parties eligible to do so, Mitsotakis called for another snap election in June. On 24 May 2023, as required by Greece's constitution, President Katerina Sakellaropoulou appointed Ioannis Sarmas to be the caretaker prime minister for the interim period. One month later he once again led his party to a majority in the June 2023 Greek legislative election and was sworn in as prime minister has been receiving the order to form a government from the President.

During his term as prime minister, Mitsotakis has received both praise and criticism for his governance, economic measures, and the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Greece. However, academics and government advisors have pointed out Greece's failures during the pandemic in addressing healthcare system shortcomings, which have led to excess deaths. He has been credited with the digital transformation of the country's public administration, and has been commended for furthering LGBT rights in Greece through the legalization of same-sex marriage and same-sex adoption. He has also been remarked for his management of the Greek economy, with Greece being named the Top Economic Performer for 2022 by The Economist. He has also received criticism for his handling of migration and the numbers of pushbacks, which his government has denied despite mounting evidence. Additionally, Mitsotakis has been criticised for heightened corruption during his term, as well as a deterioration of freedom of the press in Greece. His term was impacted by the 2022 wiretapping scandal, the Tempi Train crash, and the wildfires in 2021 and 2023.

On February 7, 2024, Members of the European Parliament approved a resolution addressing concerns over the state of the rule of law in Greece. The resolution highlighted various issues, including alleged harassment of journalists, privacy violations, wiretapping of political opponents, excessive use of police force, conflicts of interest, corruption, smear campaigns against civil society, and reported incidents of pushbacks of migrants.