Kyriakos Mitsotakis is sticking, at least publicly, to the 2027 scenario for holding elections, despite in.gr’s reporting that the case for early elections currently has the upper hand in the Prime Minister’s thinking.
It appears Mitsotakis has one significant reason to serve out the full four year term, as he himself has said, and it comes down to the resources of the new Competitiveness Fund.
Speaking at a session of the Government Council for Economic Policy, he noted that the European Commission’s initial proposal earmarks 49.5 billion euros for Greece, but that on top of this should be added the potential resources of the new Competitiveness Fund, currently set at 450 billion euros and designed to operate on competitive terms.
He argued it’s therefore up to Greece, and to Greek businesses, to come forward with strong proposals to secure a significant share of that fund’s additional resources.
He noted, however, that while everyone at the European Council hopes to close the negotiation by the end of this year, that will be difficult, since there are still major gaps to bridge and no agreement yet even on the EU’s own resources, which are needed to finalize the overall budget framework.
Mitsotakis concluded that the negotiation will very likely wrap up during Greece’s EU presidency, in the second half of 2027, which he said makes the outcome of the spring 2027 elections even more significant, since Greek voters will effectively also be choosing which government leads the European Union at a moment he called critical not just for national priorities but for Europe’s future as a whole.
His government’s handling of the earlier Recovery Fund was successful enough, even as the opposition, and particularly its official leadership, accused him of a “missed opportunity,” that the Prime Minister now wants to negotiate yet another one.
