Greece must get an important role in the Commission, prime minister tells von der Leyen

ATHENS — Greece’s prime minister is adamant that his country get a very important job when Ursula von der Leyen puts together her top team.  

Kyriakos Mitsotakis might get what he wants, too, after playing a key role in helping the European Commission president secure a second term.

“I would certainly like a portfolio that highlights on the one hand the progress that Greece has made economically, but also Greece’s sort of strategic position at the southeastern flank of Europe and of NATO,” Mitsotakis told POLITICO in an interview in the Maximos Mansion, the official office of the Greek leader in Athens.

 Asked if Greece was eying the newly announced commissioner for the Mediterranean role, Mitsotakis said: “I’m not saying that, but I’m saying that there are other portfolios that could fit that bill. I certainly think that it’s a good idea to have a commissioner for the Mediterranean.

“I presume that eventually it will be a Mediterranean country. I’m not raising my hand because there are other portfolios that could be extremely interesting to us and at the end of the day it’s a call made by the president.”

Mitsotakis hasn’t yet announced Greece’s choice for the next Commission. The current Greek commissioner, Margaritas Schinas, told Brussels Playbook this month that he would like to stay on and doing so would be a “great honor.”

Still, there are other names in play, including governor of the region of Central Macedonia Apostolos Tzitzikostas and Labor Minister Niki Kerameus.  

Now that von der Leyen has been confirmed, European capitals are sending in their candidates for the next Commission. Von der Leyen will take into account gender balance, political party balance, and geographical balance when she divides up the portfolios.  

Mitsotakis’ call for a top Commission job comes days after von der Leyen won a second term after getting support in the European Parliament. Before that, she was backed by a majority of EU leaders. To get a deal on top jobs over the line, six negotiators were appointed to convince their peers to sign up. Mitsotakis, along with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, represented the European People’s Party, which came first in the EU election. 

With French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in weakened positions, and with bridge-builders such as former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo leaving the European Council, Mitsotakis can position himself as a leader of leaders. 

Mitsotakis, who entered the Maximos Mansion in 2019, comfortably won last year’s parliamentary election, although his center-right party performed worse than expected in June’s European Parliament election. 

After years of being in the eye of the storm in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2007-2008, Mitsotakis stressed that Greece is no longer seen “as the black sheep of Europe,” which allows him to play more of a role on the European and the international stage. 

Mitsotakis’ call for a top Commission job comes days after von der Leyen won a second term after getting support in the European Parliament. | Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images

“It’s up to my colleagues to judge who actually makes valuable contributions,” he said while highlighting the number of summits in Brussels he has attended. “So again, I always try to add value, not just speak on behalf of Greece, as I must, but also try to look at the broader landscape and try to take decisions that also strengthen Europe. So that’s how I see my role.”

However, Greece’s political comeback on the European stage took a battering over a scandal about the use of spyware.In late summer 2022, the government in Athens admitted wiretapping an opposition leader’s phone — a move it called legal but wrong at the time..

Mitsotakis defended his “open” approach to handling the spyware scandal and said his government took responsibility. “But I think overall, positivity is coming out of Greece and greatly outweighs the negatives. We never said we’re perfect, but we’ve always acknowledged any mistakes that were made.”

Looking forward to the next five years, Europe will need to have a difficult discussion on how to pay for its climate, competitiveness and defense ambitions, Mitsotakis said. He argued there is an “intellectual inconsistency between the depth of our goals and the financial means that we have at our disposal.”  

While countries such as Poland, France and Greece are pushing for joint borrowing to invest in defense, Germany and the Netherlands have so far blocked the use of so-called defense bonds. But Mitsotakis is optimistic those capitals can be convinced to change stance, as they subscribed to joint borrowing in the wake of the pandemic.

“It was exactly the same story before we agreed on the Next Generation EU [the EU’s post-coronavirus recovery fund]. Especially now with what’s happening in the U.S., we cannot afford to be naive when it comes to not just our strategic autonomy, but our ability to finance projects of common interest when it comes to defense,” he said, hinting at a potential return of former U.S. President Donald Trump to the White House. 

In recent months, Mitsotakis’ name was sometimes floated as an alternative to von der Leyen if she did not get enough support for a second term.

The Greek leader said his focus was always on Athens. Could that change in five years?

“Five years is more than a century in politics,” he quipped.

Nektaria Stamouli contributed reporting from Athens.