In Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis turns to cementing his legacy

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The writer is a professor of legal theory at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens 

In July 2015, the infamous referendum on bailout conditions resulted in a strong anti-EU vote and a traumatised, divided Greece. In the aftermath, it was an outsider who became, essentially, the face of the losing side, when he won leadership of the fractured conservative party. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, despite being the scion of a dominant political family, was elected not so much by party power brokers as by tens of thousands of centrist Greeks. Since then, and despite a tranche of recent scandals, he has managed to ride a long wave of momentum, winning re-election as prime minister this month.

How has he managed this? Rightly or wrongly, almost every elite (economic, intellectual, professional and social) still supports Mitsotakis as the only one who can shield Greece from another traumatic event like 2015. Since becoming prime minister in 2019, he has, on the whole, delivered on his commitments. And, although the previous government began the path to rehabilitation, Mitsotakis has done much to help restore Greece’s international standing.

With its decisively pro-Ukraine stance, Greece is once more considered a pillar of stability in the EU and Nato. The Biden administration now treats it as a credible ally, inviting Mitsotakis to speak to the US Congress last year. But the rectification of Greece’s image abroad would not have been enough if he had not also delivered at home. Despite the pandemic and war, the economy is now in better shape.

However his tenure has not been idyllic, and is still far from perfect. His government stood accused of a major wiretapping scandal, over which he faced a no-confidence vote this January. The secret services kept under surveillance political opponents and members of the government, including the leader of an opposition party and the chief of staff of the army.

International media and NGOs have also accused Greece of pushback practices that violate the rights of refugees, asylum applicants and migrants. The evasive way the government reacted to this dealt a major blow to the rule of law and Mitsotakis’s liberal credentials. The recent tragedy in which an overcrowded fishing vessel sank, leaving at least 78 dead and hundreds missing, has seen anger grow. Greek behaviour in the Mediterranean is under scrutiny, reportedly from Frontex, the human rights section of the EU border agency, among others. The political cost, however, has been minimal. The average conservative voter seems to feel that the government has invested in border security, something reinforced by Greece’s ambitious arms programme.

Elsewhere, this year’s train accident in Tempi was the fault of the notoriously inefficient Greek administration, the result of a clientelist system in which meritocracy and accountability are foreign concepts. While the government must bear a big share of responsibility, the extreme way that the leftwing opposition Syriza and its supporters reacted (calling Mitsotakis a “murderer”) may actually have benefited him.

In the latest elections, Mitsotakis gained a strong majority, while Syriza’s losses were compounded. But 62 out of Greece’s 300 MPs belong to fringe parties: from Putin admirers, conspiracy theorists and anti-vaxxers, to racists, xenophobes, Stalinists, and representatives of the anti-European spirit of 2015. This may benefit Mitsotakis, who can contrast his image as statesman with that of a parliament turning into a circus. But the undermining of the legislative branch is always dangerous for a liberal democracy.

After such a successful run, his real enemy now is the corrupting influence of power. But he also has the chance to restore his liberal credentials and become the reformist he promised to be, by liberating the economy from overregulation and powerful cartels, strengthening the rule of law and getting rid of some of the constitution’s antiquated provisions. His legacy will be of his own making.