Congratulatory messages pour in for new PM
European Commission President Jean-Claude Junker congratulated Kyriakos Mitsotakis on his victory in Sunday’s Greek general election while cautioning that the highly indebted country still had a tough economic task ahead.
In a letter to the new prime minister, Juncker praised the Greek people for what they had to endure during its recent financial crisis which almost saw the country ejected from the euro currency area four years ago.
“A lot has been achieved,” Juncker said. “But a lot remains to be done.”
Juncker told Mitsotakis he had “full confidence in your personal capacity and the capacity of the Greek people to open a new, brighter chapter in the history of your country.”
“You can count on my personal support and the support of the European Commission to make this happen,” he added.
On his side, EU Financial Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici thanked Alexis Tsipras for doing “a lot for his country and for Europe” and congratulated Mitsotakis in taking over the job of getting the Greek economy back on its feet.
British Prime Minister Theresa May congratulated the new premier in a message on Downing Street’s official Twitter account.
“The UK stands ready as always to strengthen our cooperation with Greece on security, on trade and investment, and our people to people links,” May said.
In a letter to Mitsotakis, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his belief that the new premier "would contribute to the development of bilateral dialogue and constructive cooperation in various fields in the interests of the two nations."
US Ambassador to Greece, Geoffrey Pyatt, offered his congratulations to Greeks and the new prime minister for its victory, noting he looks forward to working with Mitsotakis.
“Please know that the United States wishes you and your government every success in your important new role,” the ambassador said in a tweet.
In the same spirit, Israeli Ambassador Irit Ben-Abba congratulated Mitsotakis and his party for the results of Sunday’s election.
The Dutch embassy expressed hope that the new government will continue to work closely to promote a new generation of Greek entrepreneurship through the Orange Grove initiative.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also called Mitsotakis on Sunday night to offer his wishes for ND's win, acording to state-run news agency ANA-MPA.
