A time of reckoning for the center-left
Nikos Androulakis was reelected as PASOK leader after defeating challenger Haris Doukas, the mayor of Athens, in a runoff on Sunday, securing nearly 60 percent of the vote.
Meanwhile, SYRIZA’s central committee, in a heated meeting filled with tension and verbal clashes, voted to bar recently ousted leader Stefanos Kasselakis from running in the party’s upcoming leadership contest.
Androulakis will now seek to capitalize on SYRIZA’s collapse and build on the momentum generated by PASOK’s leadership race. PASOK has already solidified second place in opinion polls, and a potential split within SYRIZA could make PASOK the main opposition in parliament, should SYRIZA lose at least five MPs.
This week’s political agenda is expected to be dominated by the fallout from these two parties’ internal developments, as the center-left seeks to reassert itself in Greece’s shifting political landscape.
Cyprus issue
On Tuesday, an informal dinner will take place at the UN headquarters in New York between Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar, hosted by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The trilateral meeting aims to explore ways to resume stalled reunification talks.
Christodoulides is also set to meet British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London on Monday, marking their first bilateral meeting since Starmer’s election. The Cypriot president will brief Starmer on the latest developments given the UK’s status as a guarantor power.
Efforts to resolve the Cyprus issue have repeatedly failed, with the last major attempt in 2017 at Crans-Montana, Switzerland. Since then, formal negotiations have been on hold, marking the longest period without dialogue on the issue.
Western Balkans
Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis is in Berlin on Monday to participate in the Western Balkans Berlin Process. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will meet with leaders from Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, marking the 10th anniversary of the initiative aimed at aligning the region with EU policies.
EU-Albania accession conference
Later on Monday, Gerapetritis will attend the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg, where discussions will focus on the Middle East crisis and the ongoing war in Ukraine.
On Tuesday, the foreign minister will attend the second EU-Albania accession conference. Albania, which last week opened its first negotiating cluster with the EU, is the first candidate country to do so under the revised enlargement methodology.
‘Reimagine Tourism in Greece’
Kathimerini newspaper and its partners will host the second annual summit on sustainable tourism in Greece, set to take place at Athens International Airport on October 15-16, with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in attendance.
Doctors’ strike
The Federation of Associations of Hospital Doctors of Greece (OENGE) has called a nationwide strike on Thursday, October 17, demanding higher salaries and better working conditions.
EU migration summit
EU leaders will meet in Brussels on October 17-18 to address migration policy, a pressing issue once again dominating European politics. Over the weekend, the Polish government called on the EU to approve its temporary suspension of migrant rights.
