Athens (Greece), March 14 (LaPresse/AP) – In Greece, the Prime Minister of the conservative government, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has announced a cabinet reshuffle to address the decline in approval ratings linked to the handling of the railway disaster two years ago and the rise in support for far-right parties. The new Minister of Finance is Kyriakos Pierrakakis, a former Minister for Digital Governance, while Makis Voridis, a politician with a far-right background, takes on the role of Minister of Migration in an apparent move to win back conservative voters.
The changes come a day after the conservative Konstantinos Tassoulas was sworn in as the new president of Greece. Tassoulas replaced Katerina Sakellaropoulou, the first woman to hold the position, which is largely ceremonial. The new ministers will take the oath of office on Saturday.
Pierrakakis, 42, is considered a rising star in the ruling New Democracy party and a centrist politician. Voridis, 60, was a prominent member of far-right and nationalist political groups and parties before joining New Democracy in 2012. He has held several high-ranking cabinet positions and will now be tasked with doubling the government's efforts to seek direct EU funding for the ongoing extension of the border wall.
The outgoing Minister of Finance, Kostis Hatzidakis, has been appointed the new Deputy Prime Minister. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis and Defense Minister Nikos Dendias have retained their positions, along with several other ministers in key government roles.
Despite his strong lead in opinion polls over a fragmented opposition, Mitsotakis is struggling to restore public trust following the railway disaster of February 28, 2023, in Tempe, which claimed 57 lives. Mitsotakis' center-right New Democracy party has seen its approval ratings drop in recent weeks as the government continues to grapple with the political fallout from the incident.
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