Kyriakos Mitsotakis

This government has instituted measures which previous ones would never have considered. It tied up state assets by handing them over to the Asset  Development Fund, cut pensions, and passed a law lowering the tax-free threshold.

Pavlos Polakis blastsKimbouropoulos after said the disabled are not interested in gifts and charity but rather equal opportunity.

The Finance Minister said the estimated cost of New Democracy’s announcements so far is 5bn euros in the first year and another 4bn over the next four years and that ND has not said where the money will come from.

The official line of the PM’s office is that the election will be in October, but most analysts are convinced that parliamentary elections will be held along with the other three races.

The conservative leader called for new, mutually beneficial Greece-Germany economic cooperation with a focus on investments.

The EPP's Manfred Weber in Athens lionised main opposition New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis and indirectly but clearly dismissed Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras as a populist who cannot bring growth.

Investment remains stuck at its lowest level and the economy is not taking off. It is unable to transcend the cycle and culture of pervasive pessimism, as if something is binding and immobilising it.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has declared that not even one iota of parliamentary rules should be changed.

'International law makes it [the accord] difficult to change as it supersedes all domestic law. Any violation can bring international isolation and an International Court of Justice case against our country,' said New Democracy's leader.

'This may become the beginning of new ills. Unfortunately, partisan bargains and SYRIZA’s cynicism prevailed over the national interest.'

Mr. Tsipras is the second pole of the political system, opposite Mr. Mitsotakis. Moreover, no one can doubt that the other smaller parties on both the right and left will be crushed in the heightened polarisation.

The talks also touched on tax cuts that ND has proposed, attracting investment, and continuing on the path of structural reforms.

'The dark face of the Tsipras administration casts a heavy shadow on our democracy because when the judiciary is used as a tool for political prosecution democracy is imperiled'.

'I do want to condemn this morning’s silly and senseless vandalism at the US Embassy and thank @hellenicpolice for their quick action,' US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt wrote in a tweet.