Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at a conservative election win in Greece, a new U.S.-Papua New Guinea security pact, and boycotts at India’s G-20 summit.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at a conservative election win in Greece, a new U.S.-Papua New Guinea security pact, and boycotts at India’s G-20 summit.
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Greek Conservatives Win Big
Incumbent Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s conservative New Democracy party won Sunday’s parliamentary elections with nearly 41 percent of the vote, beating the leftist Syriza party, led by former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, which won only 20 percent. However, the New Democracy party fell short of winning an outright majority, and on Monday, Mitsotakis rejected Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou’s offer of a mandate to form a coalition government with another party. Now, Greece potentially faces another election, to be held by early July. “The people wanted the choice of a Greece run by a majority government and by New Democracy without the help of others,” Mitsotakis said in a victory speech. Sakellaropoulou now must offer the second- and third-place parties a chance to build a coalition government. If that fails, then a caretaker government will be formed until the second set of elections concludes.
Another round of voting will likely reignite old controversies that could hurt New Democracy’s chances, especially if Sakellaropoulou holds coalition talks with PASOK-Movement for Change party leader Nikos Androulakis. Last July, Androulakis accused Mitsotakis’s government of attempting to hack his phone; after winning the 2019 election, Mitsotakis placed the National Intelligence Service under his direct control, and in 2021, he removed citizens’ right to be informed if they are wiretapped. The investigation, nicknamed Greek Watergate, culminated in the prime minister’s chief of staff and top intelligence official resigning from their posts.
Surveillance scandals are not the only issues that could hinder New Democracy from securing a majority. Despite the Greek economy growing nearly 6 percent last year, the Mediterranean nation still faces a debilitating cost-of-living crisis. Reports also recently emerged showing the Greek Coast Guard rounding up migrants, sailing them to international waters, and abandoning them at sea. And Greek youth, in particular, continue to protest government corruption allegations, specifically the state’s chronic lack of infrastructure investment, which turned deadly in February when a train crash killed 57 people, many of them students.
“New Democracy sought to counter economic hardship with generous energy and business subsidies, decreased taxes, and increased pensions,” Greek experts Akis Georgakellos and Harris Mylonas argued in Foreign Policy. But moving to a second round may only exacerbate these crises, not hide them. “The longer it takes Greece to form a stable government, the more uncertainty it will face on both financial and geopolitical fronts.”
Tuesday, May 23: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is expected to appear in court.
European Union defense ministers discuss bloc support for the war in Ukraine.
Tuesday, May 23, to Wednesday, May 24: Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin visits Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang.
Wednesday, May 24: Russian President Vladimir Putin hosts Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko.
Ecuador confirms the date for early presidential and legislative elections.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hosts Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Thursday, May 25: Russia hosts the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council.
Sunday, May 28: Modi inaugurates India’s new parliament.
Turkey holds its presidential runoff election.
Monday, May 29: Bola Tinubu is sworn in as Nigeria’s president.
Pacific partnership. Papua New Guinea signed a new security pact with the United States on Monday in an effort to boost economic relations and counter China’s growing influence. “Our planet’s future is being written here,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said about the Indo-Pacific region. “Papua New Guinea is playing a critical role in shaping that future.” The agreement enhances the island’s defense forces and details a framework for future security collaboration. The agreement came despite a recent diplomatic hiccup when U.S. President Joe Biden canceled his trip to Papua New Guinea and Australia last week to continue domestic debt ceiling negotiations. The island had declared a national holiday to celebrate Biden’s impending visit—the first-ever visit by a sitting U.S. president to Papua New Guinea.
This pact follows a series of U.S. efforts to strengthen its influence among the Pacific Islands, especially after China signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands last year. In 2022, Washington established embassies in the Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Kiribati, as well as invested more than $2 billion in foreign assistance to the region.
G-20 boycotts. Monday began a three-day G-20 summit in Srinagar, a city in Indian-controlled Kashmir, but two key players were notably absent. Both China and Saudi Arabia boycotted the meeting, saying they would not attend any conference held in “disputed territory.” Pakistan, which also claims authority over the region, is not a G-20 member but argued that the summit’s choice of location was “irresponsible.” United Nations officials also condemned the event, with one saying the summit provided a “veneer of support to a facade of normalcy” in an area where human rights violations continue to escalate.
In 2019, India revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special autonomy status despite warnings made by the global community. Violence quickly erupted across the region. The Indian government instituted a communications blackout and conducted raids targeting the region’s Muslim population; under far-right Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has established laws discriminating against those who do not practice Hinduism. In the past five years, dozens of Muslim and Hindu civilians have been killed by armed groups in Kashmir. However, Modi is hoping that a G-20 summit—as well as his push to advance Kashmir’s tourism industry—may bring economic prosperity to the war-torn region.
Fire in South America. Tragedy rocked Guyana on Monday after a fire in a school dormitory killed at least 20 people, many of whom were high school students. At least seven individuals were also injured in the blaze, which occurred in the small, mountainous town of Mahdia. The cause of the fire remains unknown, and an investigation is currently underway. Guyanese President Irfaan Ali called the deadly fire “tragic and painful” and has issued a full-scale medical emergency plan to assist local officials, including sending planes with medical supplies and offering additional personnel.
For the first time since the 1850s, New Zealand’s sheep-to-human ratio dropped below 5 to 1 on Monday—a 2 percent dip since the country’s last agricultural survey was taken five years ago. That’s a loss of 400,000 sheep. But don’t worry; 25.3 million fluffy farm critters remain. Not too shabby.
The post Greece’s Mitsotakis Rejects Coalition Government in Reelection Bid appeared first on Foreign Policy.
