From Konstantinos Karamanlis, who on this day in 1975 submitted the application for the country’s accession to the EEC, in the Greece of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who now plays a central role in the European Union and the Eurozone, and the Greek Minister of Finance Kyriakos Pierrakakis.
Exactly 51 years ago, Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis submitted Greece’s application for EEC membership, which was accepted the following day, on June 13, 1975, was accepted, and the country’s accession process began. One day earlier, on June 11, the constitution of the country, thereby creating the necessary conditions that led Greece to its natural place, Europe.
An accession that was completed in 1981; nevertheless, the submission of the application marks a historic day for the country, as it essentially marks the beginning of the transition that led to an… alliance that even today, following accession to the euro, demonstrates its significance.
“Greece belongs to and wishes to belong to Europe, where its geopolitical position, its history, and its traditions—which are shared with the cultural heritage of your countries—have placed it,” stated Constantine Karamanlis, addressing the ambassadors of the nine member states of the then-Community on June 12, 1975.
His decision, made in the face of a PASOK that was building its… future with slogans such as “EEC and NATO are the same union” and other similar slogans, was of particular economic and political significance in the effort to consolidate the New Democracy party.
New Democracy has stood on the right side of history all these years, and it is telling that it put party interests aside in 2015 —together with the then-ruling PASOK—to keep the country in Europe and in the euro.
Today, 51 years later, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, as prime minister of the New Democracy government, has succeeded in leading the country into the inner circle of the European Union. With the ability to influence decisions on critical issues—as was the case during the pandemic and the energy crisis—and by building a strong economy that serves as a model for other countries, changing the dynamics created by the decade-long crisis as well as the actions and decisions of the SYRIZA-ANEL government and the “proud negotiation” of Alexis Tsipras.
And that’s not all. Greece currently holds the Eurogroup presidency. Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis was unanimously elected president of the Eurogroup, where in 2015 the eurozone finance ministers, facing the “asset” of Alexis Tsipras, Yanis Varoufakis, came close to taking the country out of the euro.
Greece has returned to the “fast lane” of the European Union, having weathered the years of the economic crisis, and through Kyriakos Pierrakakis, it now holds the helm of one of its key institutions.
