Greece’s politicians issued statements of condolences for Kostas Simitis, Greece’s former Prime Minister, who died this morning, January 5, at the age of 88.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed condolences for a “Prime Minister who accompanied Greece in its great national steps: joining the Eurozone and the Euro and Cyprus’ entry into Europe. A personality who, undoubtedly, leaves his own mark on the development of the country, throughout the last decades,”
“Kostas Simitis was a consistent fighter against the dictatorship and, later, a founding member, leading figure and president of PASOK,” wrote Mitsotakis. “A capable academic teacher and a moderate parliamentary man. Above all, however, a catalyst of public life, who boldly placed at its center the great effort of modernizing the country. ‘Modernization has no expiration date,’ he believed.”
President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, stated that Simitis “was one of the most important and multifaceted political figures in our modern history. His presence in the country’s public life contributed decisively to the formation and continuation of another political consciousness and culture in the Post-Coalition Era, with an emphasis on method, rationality and commitment to the goal. With his constant, main reference to European social democracy and the trend of modernization, he envisioned, as Prime Minister, a Greece that was strong and equal in Europe.”
Current PASOK president Nikos Androulakis stated Simitis tenure had “top national successes: the country’s integration into the hard core of the euro and the integration of Cyprus into the EU with the Cyprus problem unresolved. But also with far-reaching infrastructure projects, which radically changed the image of our homeland, drastically improved the everyday life of citizens and strengthened the competitiveness of the economy.”
He also stated that the Simitis governments “sealed one of the country’s most creative periods” and that “with planning, methodicality and a deeply progressive vision against any kind of maintenance, as prime minister he opened new horizons in Greek society in a period of stormy changes in Europe and the world.”
SYRIZA president Socrates Famellos also praised Simitis and his influence, stating “at this time we must bid him farewell with respect and reserve the conclusions for the policies that we must change or strengthen. The final judgment of his work belongs to history.”
Alexis Charitsis of the New Left stated “In difficult years, he fought courageously against the dictatorship, paying the price. As prime minister, he identified with PASOK’s adoption of neoliberal policies, within the context of the ideological mutation of European social democracy. During the period of great political change in 2015, he expressed the bloc of the “legal owners” of the country.”
