Former EU Commissioner and MP Stavros Dimas received a telephone call from Prime Minister Antonis Samaras at his office on Tuesday morning. The 75-year-old politician briefly met with Mr. Samaras at Maximos Mansion shortly afterwards. Within hours the news of his candidacy in the Greek presidential elections on December 17 was out.

Mr. Dimas was one of the names rumored for the position, but sources state that the decision had been made on Monday morning. Mr. Dimas has the backing of the coalition government made up of the conservative New Democracy and socialist PASOK parties. The statesman is considered a good choice as he has served as a deputy in Greece and as the Greek EU Commissioner for Environmental Matters, for which he received a number of distinctions. “Stavros Dimas is, according to general belief, a person who joins and inspires. He can united citizens beyond party preferences and gain respect, trust and seriousness,” said Mr. Samaras.

On his part, socialist PASOK Deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos said that the choice of Mr. Dimas was made after careful consideration. He said that Mr. Dimas “fully meets the requirements of the presidential office” as he is a moderate politician with a long career and experience.

To be voted in as president he needs the backing of 180 MPs. The Potami party noted that Mr. Dimas was an honest and moderate politician but he was “intrenched in th etight boundaries of the partisan system.” Independent MP Panagiotis Melas, a former Independent Greeks (ANEL) deputy, said that he supported Mr. Dimas’ candidacy, whereas Independent MP Vassilis Kapernaros said that the choice of Mr. Dimas changed nothing regarding his position. Opposition ultranationalist Golden Dawn (GD) MPs announced that they would vote against the “memorandum president of the republic” shortly after the announcement was made.

Who is Mr. Dimas?

The Former EU Commissioner was born in Corinth in 1941. He studied law at the Athens University, but also has political and economic studies in London and New York. His past experience included working on Wall Street and as a World Bank executive.

He served as deputy governor of the Hellenic Industrial Development Bank in 1975 and had been part of the negotiating committee for Greece’s accession into the European Economic Community (EEC).

He served as deputy with the conservative ND party in 1977 and was the party’s parliamentary spokesperson from 1985 to 1989. He has served both as minister of Agriculture and as Industry, Energy and Technology. In 1995 he was secretary-general of the ND’s parliamentary group.

He was appointed European Commissioner for the DG for Employment and Social Affairs in March, 2004, before assuming the environment portfolio in November 2004.

Back in Greece in July 2010, he was appointed the ND’s Vice Presidentand was sworn in as Foreign Minister in Lucas Papademos’ interim coalition government in November 2011.