For Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his New Democracy (ND) government, August is far from a period of summer calm. Instead, it consistently emerges as a month of heightened political tension and mounting crises. Since 2020 every August has brought developments that either tested the inner cohesion of the Maximos Mansion or shook the government’s public image.
August 2025 is no exception. The government now finds itself engulfed in a major scandal involving OPEKEPE, the state agency overseeing agricultural subsidies. The affair strikes at the core of Mitsotakis’s brand of technocratic governance, undermining claims of competence and integrity. Despite efforts from the Prime Minister’s office to contain the fallout, the political pressure is intensifying. Recent polls show the ruling party losing more than three percentage points in voter support, and the governing majority is struggling to maintain its footing ahead of a parliamentary inquiry. Comments from senior minister Kostis Hatzidakis, suggesting that high-level figures may be forced to return improperly disbursed funds, indicate the government is attempting to project a tough stance. Yet there is growing anxiety about what further revelations—especially those potentially coming from the European Public Prosecutor’s Office—may bring.
This latest crisis adds to a growing list of fraught summers for Mitsotakis. In 2020, he addressed the nation during a dangerous escalation with Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean, as tensions over maritime rights and energy exploration brought the two countries to the brink. A year later, in 2021, devastating wildfires ravaged large parts of Attica, Evia, and the Peloponnese, highlighting critical weaknesses in Greece’s emergency response.
In 2022, a wiretapping scandal shook the government, prompting the resignation of top aides and severely damaging Mitsotakis’s image. The affair struck directly at the heart of the Prime Minister’s office, as the Greek intelligence service (EYP) — which reports directly to the Prime Minister — was found to have surveilled political figures, with the first major revelation being the attempted phone tapping of Nikos Androulakis, then leader of the center-left PASOK party and a sitting Member of the European Parliament.
Mitsotakis publicly claimed that the surveillance was legally permissible but politically wrong. He maintained that he had no prior knowledge of the operation and insisted that, had he known, he would have prevented it. However, public opinion diverged sharply from this narrative. Polls indicated that up to 70% of Greeks believed the Prime Minister was aware of the surveillance, casting doubt on his denials and damaging the government's credibility.
Despite the backlash, the political cost was relatively contained. By the end of August 2022, New Democracy had suffered a modest drop of about 1.5 percentage points in voting intention, but no dramatic collapse. However, the scandal triggered swift resignations: Grigoris Dimitriadis, the Prime Minister’s chief of staff (and also his nephew), stepped down alongside Panagiotis Kontoleon, the head of the intelligence agency.
By 2023, the political temperature remained high after two shocking events—the explosion at a military depot in central Greece and the fatal stabbing of a Greek football fan by Croatian hooligans—further dented public confidence in the state’s ability to provide basic security.
Even the relatively calmer 2024 brought no political relief. Though free of external crises, the year saw serious internal tensions within New Democracy. A disappointing performance in the European elections, along with growing public frustration over the rising cost of living and a deepening housing crisis, shook the party’s foundations. These strains culminated in the high-profile expulsion of MP Marios Salmas—a calculated move by the Prime Minister’s inner circle to reassert control over an increasingly restive parliamentary group.
Now, as August 2025 unfolds, the government faces an inflection point. It must balance the urgent need to halt political decline with mounting calls for accountability over the OPEKEPE scandal. How the Mitsotakis administration navigates this moment may prove decisive—not only for the cohesion of the current government, but also for the broader future of New Democracy and the Prime Minister’s political legacy as Greece edges closer to its next electoral contests.
