ATHENS – Still leading polls despite a disappointing showing for New Democracy candidates in European Parliament elections, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is taking criticism within the party and former premier Antonis Samaras.

New Democracy lost 12.78 percent in the European elections from Mitsotakis’ romp in 2023 national elections where he pounded the major rival SYRIZA again and had enjoyed popularity despite setbacks over the handling of a deadly refugee shipwreck and allegations of covering up a train tragedy that killed 57 people.

Samaras piled on during a book presentation at the War Museum of Athens where he assailed his fellow conservative’s policies on refugees, foreign affairs, gay marriage and said Mitsotakis should take the party further right.

“The message from the citizens  (to the government) was to change policy, not to run faster,” Samaras said of the European results, referring to a quote by  Mitsotakis after the elections that saw big gains for extreme right parties.

Samaras said the same-sex marriage law put through the Parliament hurt the party badly with some of its core constituency who didn’t like it and he told Mitsotakis to take that message from the vote and “understand he is wrong.”

Samaras also said Greece is being humiliated by Turkey – which keeps up taunts during a rapprochement – and by Albania, which jailed an ethnic Greek elected Mayor and from North Macedonia, where officials call the country Macedonia.

He also said that New Democracy has abandoned its center-right roots. “Opening up is not the same as mutating,” he said, referring to the party being moved more toward the center to try to appeal to a broader base.

But former minister Dora Bakoyianni rallied to her brother Mitsotakis’ defense and said that “Mr. was expressing his personal bitterness over the fact that the others won’t ‘play’ with him,” speaking to SKAI TV.

She noted that another former premier for New Democracy, Kostas Karamanlis, also spoke at the event and that he “gave us an analysis about Europe and the national issues, things on which we all agree.
Samaras is considered the voice of the far rightists in New Democracy and used the opportunity to rip Mitsotakis for leading the party toward the center and the Premier’s handling of foreign affairs.

Samaras also said the European election results were a “resounding slap” and accused Mitsotakis of making the party the “smallest and most phobic it has ever been,” although New Democracy is far ahead of its rivals SYRIZA and PASOK.

Bakoyianni said that under her brother New Democracy got almost 41 percent of the vote in 2023 national elections and 158 Members of Parliament and “We have surpassed the 18 percent of the Samaras years,” adding that he should understand “There really needs to be some moderation in what one claims.”

She added: “I am not hearing these things that Samaras says from the party base. ND has departed from its principles and values? It’s ridiculous,” she said. “Look at ND’s founding declaration from 50 years ago; it could have been written yesterday. This is the declaration the Mitsotakis government is following: liberalism and social sensibility.”

“New Democracy has always won when it has had the support of the center,” Bakoyannis told SKAI although there’s grumblings within the party, where 37 lawmakers aired grievances during a meeting of the parliamentary group.