To his supporters, Tsitsikostas is considered a staunch supporter of the party, having won three consecutive terms as governor with impressive support. Fluent in English and French, he studied at Georgetown University in the United States and the University of London. Most importantly, he has experience in European institutions, having served as president of the European Regional Committee.
But there was clearly a right-wing bias behind Mitsotakis’ selection of him.
Tsitsikostas invited the now-defunct far-right Greek neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party to the national holiday parade in Thessaloniki in 2013. When the mayor at the time, Yannis Boutaris, protested, he replied: “We all know that he prefers other kinds of parades. He is a big supporter of gay pride parades in particular.”
At the height of Europe’s migrant crisis in 2016, Tsitsikostas abstained from signing a cooperation agreement between Thessaloniki and the UNHCR to improve conditions for asylum seekers. He was accused by Boutaris of “betting on xenophobia”.
In an interview with POLITICO, Tsitsikostas described himself as a center-right, moderate politician and noted his electoral success.
“I believe that my European experience, especially as president of the EU’s official European institutions, contributed significantly to my election,” he said, adding that he was unanimously elected president of the European Committee of the Regions in 2020 across all political groups.
