Former socialist Prime Minister Costas Simitis considered a reformist in Greek politics and a driving force behind significant political moments that defined the country’s future, died on Sunday at the age of 88.
Simitis, a law professor, replaced Andreas Papandreou as leader of the Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok) in 1996 and served as prime minister until 2004.
Most Greek politicians hailed him as a “modernist” and “reformist” who brought the country on track with European Union standards.
“Europe mourns with the people of Greece the loss of former Prime Minister Costas Simitis—a deeply pro-European and visionary politician. A leader whose legacy holds a special place in Greek and European politics”, commented EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola.
During his mandate as prime minister, he implemented a series of economic reforms, reducing the public deficit and debt and paving the way for Greece to join the eurozone in January 2001.
However, almost six years later, the country experienced one of the most severe economic crises, threatening to derail it from the eurozone.
Pasok and Simitis blamed the successor conservative New Democracy (EPP) government of Costas Karamanlis, claiming they disrupted public finances.
Later, Simitis also criticised the European Commission for not being too vigilant in monitoring the conservative government’s handling of public finances.
Conservatives responded by saying that Simitis’s era and the socialist governments before them were characterised by high corruption, which led to economic deadlock.
Politically, Simitis had always had a tough modus vivendi with Pasok founder Andreas Papandreou, who was considered more left-wing.
The latter often claimed that Simitis was secretly undermining his leadership and that he was not a real socialist.
In addition, as part of his modernist agenda, Simitis clashed with the Greek Orthodox Church, which still has significant influence in domestic politics, after his government removed the religious reference from national ID cards.
The Aegean crisis and Cyprus
Two milestone events marked his mandate on foreign policy.
The first was the military crisis with Turkey in 1996 over the sovereignty of the inhabited islets of Imia in the Aegean.
The Imia crisis is part of a broader conflict between the two NATO neighbours over sovereignty in the Aegean, which is still ongoing.
Greek and Turkish special forces landed on the islets, bringing the two countries to the brink of war. The tension was so high that Washington immediately intervened and called on the two countries to step back.
The region was then branded as a “grey zone”, triggering strong reactions in Athens against Simitis, who also thanked the Americans for their intervention in de-escalating tensions at a speech in the Greek House.
Another event was Simitis’ diplomatic manoeuvre to push his EU partners to accept Cyprus in the EU in 2004 as part of the “big wave” of EU enlargement.
The move was considered a success for Greece’s foreign policy. The Cyprus-Turkey dispute had become a European matter, and therefore, the tiny Mediterranean island’s diplomatic leverage toward Ankara increased.
However, 20 years later, the Cyprus issue remains unresolved while Turkey’s EU path remains uncertain.
[Edited by Alice Taylor-Braçe]
