Personality that leaves its own imprint on the country’s development over the past decades, Kostas Simitis was described by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, saying that his legacy of modernisation “still runs through today, as a common claim, the demands of the homeland”.

In detail, Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ statement on the loss of Kostas Simitis:

Christian statement.
Costas Simitis was a consistent fighter against the dictatorship and, later, a founding member, leader, and president of PASOK. A competent academic teacher and a moderate parliamentary man. Above all, however, a catalyst of public life, who boldly placed the great effort of modernizing the country at its centre.

It is with sadness and respect that I bid farewell to Costas Simitis. A worthy and noble political opponent. But also the Prime Minister who accompanied Greece on its great national steps: the accession to the Eurozone and the Euro and the entry of Cyprus into Europe. A personality who, undoubtedly, leaves his own imprint on the development of the country, throughout the last decades.

Costas Simitis was a consistent fighter against the dictatorship and, later, a founding member, leader, and president of PASOK. A competent academic teacher and a moderate parliamentary man. Above all, however, a catalyst of public life, who boldly placed the great effort of modernizing the country at its centre.

“Modernization has no expiration date,” he believed. “It is an ongoing process, based on the values of democracy, justice, and the constant expansion of the possibilities of the individual. It is a term with content and political value. A tool for action to change society as long as there is a past that determines the present and prevents adaptation to the future.”

Regardless of political differences, I think that this legacy of his still runs through the demands of the homeland today, as a common claim. Something that marks Kostas Simitis’ share of the contribution to it. Allowing him, from now on, to maintain a special place in memory and history. My most sincere condolences to his wife Daphne, his daughters, and his family.