Former Greek defence minister Panos Kammenos announced on Monday he plans to re-enter frontline politics after the next election to stop PASOK regaining power.
Speaking in an interview on the Greek television channel ANT1, Kammenos said he will become active following the vote to help unite political forces capable of delivering a stable administration.
Kammenos forecast that no single party will secure an outright parliamentary majority during the first round of voting. He said Greece will need fresh political formations across both the right and the left to ensure a regular alternation of executive power.
He told the broadcaster he intends to help create the conditions for a coalition, though he noted that the exact path forward remains to be determined. The next prime minister, he suggested, could be drawn from the governing New Democracy party, from independent lawmakers, or from outside established ranks.
Opposition to PASOK and Samaras
Kammenos warned that he detects a concerted effort to restore the centre-left PASOK party to government, insisting he will personally intervene to block that outcome.
Drawing on Greek political history, Kammenos pointed to 1993, when former prime minister Antonis Samaras brought down the New Democracy administration of Konstantinos Mitsotakis. Kammenos argued that the collapse ushered in 11 years of PASOK governance that ruined the country.
He also recalled that Samaras later formed a coalition government with former PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos in late 2011. Kammenos claimed Samaras is currently trying to engineer another governing partnership between New Democracy and PASOK, a development Kammenos vowed to stop.
In comments made over the weekend, Kammenos had already signalled that if Samaras re-enters the electoral arena, he will immediately return to active politics to oppose him.
Alliances on the Political Right
Instead of partnering with the centre-left, Kammenos argued that New Democracy has ample room to collaborate with parties situated to its right. He specified that New Democracy should reach out to right-wing groups that do not belong to the extreme right, explicitly naming Kyriakos Velopoulos of Greek Solution and Afroditi Latinopoulou of Voice of Reason.
In a potential second round of voting, Kammenos argued that a coalition backed by conservative forces could deliver a stable majority with a clear Atlanticist foreign policy orientation.
He also addressed the future of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, stating that alternative forces must be prepared to step forward after the first ballot if Mitsotakis chooses to step aside. Kammenos noted that any decision to resign remains strictly a matter for Mitsotakis himself.
Kammenos argued that New Democracy must return to its traditional roots, saying he is personally allergic to former officials from the modernising, Simitis-era wing of PASOK who now occupy senior roles in the government. He insisted political legitimacy should be restored to New Democracy through alliances with conservative forces to its right.
Break with Tsipras and Bailout Record
Kammenos ruled out any future collaboration with his former governing partner, former prime minister Alexis Tsipras, stating firmly that the chapter of supporting Tsipras has closed.
Between 2015 and 2019, Kammenos led the right-wing Independent Greeks party in a coalition government alongside Tsipras and his left-wing SYRIZA party. Kammenos explained that he originally joined forces with Tsipras to topple the Samaras-PASOK administration and navigate Greece out of international bailout programmes.
Kammenos said he does not believe Tsipras is positioned for an immediate comeback, arguing that the former prime minister currently lacks the political momentum to reclaim the premiership. He added that Tsipras will likely attempt to consolidate the wider left-wing bloc during a second election.
When interviewers asked who Tsipras would speak with inside PASOK if Kammenos opposes PASOK returning to government, Kammenos countered by asking why anyone assumed he wanted Tsipras back in power.
Military Record and Debt Servicer Errors
Concluding the broadcast, Kammenos defended his record as defence minister, asserting that his administration shielded the Greek armed forces from the influence of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn organisation.
He alleged that the police force had fallen under the sway of Golden Dawn during that period, while the military stood on the verge of intense political pressure. Kammenos explained that his frequent appearances in military uniform were intended solely to demonstrate solidarity with service personnel.
While rejecting accusations of arrogance during his time in office, Kammenos conceded that he made mistakes as a minister. He specifically acknowledged yielding to pressure from international bailout lenders regarding debt servicers, stating that ordinary Greek citizens continue to suffer from that decision.
