Greece Government

Who is the president of Greece?

Executive Branch:

chief of state: President Ekaterini SAKELLAROPOULOU (since 22 January 2020)

head of government: Prime Minister Kyriakos MITSOTAKIS (since 8 July 2019)

cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime minister

elections/appointments: president elected by Hellenic Parliament for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 22 January 2020 (next to be held by February 2025); president appoints as prime minister the leader of the majority party or coalition in the Hellenic Parliament

election results: Katerina SAKELLAROPOULOU (independent) elected president by Parliament - 261 of 300 votes; note - SAKELLAROPOULOU is Greece's first woman president; she takes office on 13 March 2020

Citizenship Criteria:

citizenship by birth: no

citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Greece

dual citizenship recognized: yes

residency requirement for naturalization: 10 years

Legal System:

civil legal system based on Roman law

Suffrage:

17 years of age; universal and compulsory

Legislative Branch:

description: unicameral Hellenic Parliament or Vouli ton Ellinon (300 seats; 280 members in multi-seat constituencies and 12 members in a single nationwide constituency directly elected by open party-list proportional representation vote; 8 members in single-seat constituencies elected by simple majority vote; members serve up to 4 years); note - only parties surpassing a 3% threshold are entitled to parliamentary seats; parties need 10 seats to become formal parliamentary groups but can retain that status if the party participated in the last election and received the minimum 3% threshold

elections: last held on 7 July 2019 (next to be held by July 2023)

election results: percent of vote by party - ND 39.9%, SYRIZA 31.5%, KINAL 8.1%, KKE 5.3%, Greek Solution 3.7%, MeRA25 3.4%, other 8.1%; seats by party - ND 158, SYRIZA 86, KINAL 22, KKE 15, Greek Solution 10, MeRA25 9; composition - men 244, women 56, percent of women 18.7%

Judicial Branch:

highest court(s): Supreme Civil and Criminal Court or Areios Pagos (consists of 56 judges including the court presidents); Council of State (supreme administrative court) consists of the president, vice president, 42 privy councillors, and 98 associate and reporting judges, organized into 5- and 7-member chambers; Hellenic Court of Audit (government audit and enforcement) consists of the president, 5 vice presidents, 20 councillors, and 90 associate and reporting judges

judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court judges appointed by presidential decree on the advice of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), which includes the president of the Supreme Court, other judges, and the prosecutor of the Supreme Court; judges appointed for life following a 2-year probationary period; Council of State president appointed by the Greek Cabinet to serve a 4-year term; other judge appointments and tenure NA; Court of Audit president appointed by decree of the president of the republic on the advice of the SJC to serve a 4-year term with an age limit of 67

subordinate courts: Courts of Appeal and Courts of First Instance(district courts)

Regions or States:

13 regions (perifereies, singular - perifereia) and 1 autonomous monastic state* (aftonomi monastiki politeia); Agion Oros* (Mount Athos), Anatoliki Makedonia kai Thraki (East Macedonia and Thrace), Attiki (Attica), Dytiki Ellada (West Greece), Dytiki Makedonia (West Macedonia), Ionia Nisia (Ionian Islands), Ipeiros (Epirus), Kentriki Makedonia (Central Macedonia), Kriti (Crete), Notio Aigaio (South Aegean), Peloponnisos (Peloponnese), Sterea Ellada (Central Greece), Thessalia (Thessaly), Voreio Aigaio (North Aegean)

Political Parties and Leaders:

Anticapitalist Left Cooperation for the Overthrow or ANTARSYA [collective leadership]

Coalition of the Radical Left or SYRIZA [Alexios (Alexis) TSIPRAS]

Communist Party of Greece or KKE [Dimitrios KOUTSOUMBAS]

Democratic Left or DIMAR [Athanasios (Thanasis) THEOCHAROPOULOS]

Independent Greeks or ANEL [Panagiotis (Panos) KAMMENOS]

Movement for Change (formerly Panhellenic Socialist Movement or PASOK) [Foteini (Fofi) GENIMMATA]

Movement of Democratic Socialists or KIDISO [Georgios PAPANDREOU]

New Democracy or ND [Kyriakos MITSOTAKIS]

People's Association-Golden Dawn [Nikolaos MICHALOLIAKOS]

Popular Unity or LAE [Panagiotis LAFAZANIS]

To Potami (The River) [Stavros THEODORAKIS]

Union of Centrists or EK [Vasilis LEVENTIS]

International Law Organization Participation:

accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

International Organization Participation:

Australia Group, BIS, BSEC, CD, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD (partners), IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, SELEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Diplomatic Representation in the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador Theocharis LALAKOS (since 27 June 2016)

chancery: 2217 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone: [1] (202) 939-1300

FAX: [1] (202) 939-1324

consulate(s) general: Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Tampa (FL), San Francisco

consulate(s): Atlanta, Houston

Diplomatic Representation from US:

chief of mission: Ambassador Geoffrey R. PYATT (since 24 October 2016)

embassy: 91 Vasillisis Sophias Avenue, 10160 Athens

mailing address: PSC 108, APO AE 09842-0108

telephone: [30] (210) 721-2951

FAX: [30] (210) 645-6282

consulate(s) general: Thessaloniki