Politics by country

Leader of New Democracy party Kyriakos Mitsotakis greets people at a rally in Thessaloniki, Greece, 21 June 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE/ACHILLEAS CHIRAS

Almost a month ago, Mitsotakis emerged as the big winner of May 21 elections, taking 40.83 per cent of the vote and leaving his main rival, Alexis Tsipras, and the left-wing party SYRIZA far behind on 20.07 per cent.

Following is the political backdrop to Greece's parliamentary election on Sunday. Opinion polls show former Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' New Democracy party winning by a wide margin over the leftist Syriza party, which ruled in 2015-2019 at the peak of the Greek debt crisis.

May election

SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance leader Alexis Tsipras met with visiting former US president Barack Obama on Thursday, with whom he discussed political developments.

Former Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' conservatives appear set to win a repeat election in Greece on Sunday after an inconclusive vote on May 21, putting him back in office.

Palma previously said that Basta is no longer a member of that party or a minister in the government.

Amid an internal debate over how the party should restructure itself following the election defeat, the provincial leaders of the Republican People's Party (CHP) have underlined that change should come through new opinions and principles and not through persons.

U.S. Ambassador to Ankara Jeff Flake has said that it is time for Sweden to become a member of NATO, expressing his hope that the country would join the alliance either before or during the upcoming Vilnius summit.

June 21, is the 20th anniversary of the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Thessaloniki, Greece. At this historic event, the European Union and the acceding and potential candidate countries from the Western Balkans at that time committed themselves to each other.

A few days remain until the end of the most tiring pre-election period in recent decades, where the main role in the political debate was not played by the programs of the parties but by some statements made by members of New Democracy and SYRIZA.

The winner of Sunday's Greek elections will likely be Kyriakos Mitsotakis - but just as important for the future of Greek democracy is who loses, as the country risks being left without a real opposition.