Constantine Karamanlis

Greek-French relations were forged in critical and transitional periods in our country's history.

In 1974 following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus and the national disaster that led to the fall of the Greek junta, PM Constantine Karamanlis approached France and even adjusted Greece's defence policy to the French model.

It's 1980. After six years in the prime minister's seat, Constantine Karamanlis becomes president, leaving behind a divided party and a financially troubled country - it's only a few months since the second oil crisis in the summer of 1979. Greece is going through political upheaval: strikes, university sit-ins, and near-daily protests.

The file that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis took along with him on his working visit to Berlin on August 29 contained, among other things, a copy of a story from the German magazine Der Spiegel - put there by a close associate and not by this writer.

Veteran New Democracy MP (representing the district of Ioannina) Konstantinos Tasoulas has been elected Parliament Speaker with an unprecedented 283 votes in the 300-seat legislature.

Tasoulas was supported by five of the legislature's six parties (New Democracy, SYRIZA, Movement for Change, Elliniki Lysi, and MeRa 25).

The electoral spread between the two top parties is near record level, especially If the opinion polls - which are reminiscent of older elections when two-party predominance was so great that the country was divided into blue (ND) and green (Pasok) cafes - are confirmed.

Back in 1974, New Democracy won the general election by a 20 percentage point spread over Pasok.

On the eve of European elections, Kathimerini spoke with a "wise" European who may have the answers to some of the most fundamental questions challenging the Continent right now: How worrying is the rise of euroskeptic parties? What steps need to be taken in order to restore citizens' faith in the European project? Is Greece out of the woods yet?

New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis has called on voters to resist the temptation to abstain and vote massively for his party in the May 26 elections to the European Parliament.

Anyone involved in politics needs to have a strong stomach and plenty of patience.

Up until very recently, members of the Athenian elite were often heard complaining about New Democracy's leader: "Kyriakos [Mitsotakis] doesn't have what it takes. He must say more populist things, tell a few lies, it's not that bad." 

Twenty years have gone by since Constantine Karamanlis's passing and one thing remains clear: He was a true political leader who gained the respect of the the Greek people and of whom New Democracy is proud.

It has been 20 years since the death of Constantine Karamanlis. Unlike many other prominent political figures of the modern Greek state, that undoubtedly great leader and politician was fortunate enough to live to witness general acceptance and recognition of his words and actions.