What are the chances that an elderly woman from a small village in Evros, who has never been in the public eye, is a retired farmer-breeder, and owns a butcher shop in Alexandroupoli with her son, would be elected to the European Parliament? Theoretically, none. However, this assumption is proven wrong by Mrs. Galatos Alexandraki, who has become the second elected MEP with the Greek Solution party of Kyriakos Velopoulos.
Eliniki Lysi (Greek Solution) doubled its percentage in Evros, securing 14% and the second place, right behind ND. The surprising element is that the second seat won by the party is taken by 76-year-old Galato Alexandraki, a retired cattle breeder from Koufovouno, Didymoteicho.
According to inevros.gr (which also published her photo, albeit blurry), Mrs. Alexandraki lives and works in Alexandroupolis, where she runs a butcher shop with her son, Alexandros Alexandrakis. She managed to secure 51,237 votes, placing second behind the already MEP-veterinarian Emmanuel Frago. Many voted for Frago mistakenly believing they were voting for General Fragoulis Frago, who clarified on social media that he was never a candidate.
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But who is Galato Alexandraki? She has not given interviews and has no social media presence. The fact that the 76-year-old livestock farmer was first on the Eurolist of the Hellenic Solution may have contributed to her selection among unknown candidates, as she was also the only candidate whose last name began with “A”.
Protothema.gr contacted her son, Alexandros Alexandrakis, who runs the butcher shop in Alexandroupoli. He mentioned that his mother is pleasantly shocked by her election, something she did not expect. He added that she had never been involved in public life before and now has to figure out how to manage the new circumstances. However, he insisted that his mother does not want to make any public statements for now.
Protothema.gr also reached out to public figures in Evros for more information about Mrs. Alexandraki. However, no one knew much about her, attributing her election to her place on the ballot and possibly to “party lines”…
