Antonis Samaras
Antonis (or Adonis) Samaras (born May 23 1951) is a Greek politician and Member of the European Parliament for New Democracy; part of the European People's Party.
Born in Athens, Samaras graduated from Amherst College in 1974 with a degree in economics and from Harvard University in 1976 with an MBA. He is a former member of the Greek Parliament (1977-1996) as well as Minister of Economic Affairs (1989).
He was Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs in the New Democracy government of Konstantinos Mitsotakis (1989-1992). A hardliner on the "Macedonian Question" and on other issues, he was removed from his post in 1992. Samaras hastened the government's fall by leaving New Democracy and founding his own party, Political Spring.
Political Spring gained 4.9% in the 1993 general election, earning ten seats in the Greek Parliament. It gained 8.7% in the elections in the 1994 European Parliament elections, earning two seats. Its decline started in the 1996 general election, when it gained 2.94%, just below the 3%t threshold necessary to enter parliament.
It participated in the 1999 European Parliament elections, but it got 2.3% which was not enough to elect MEPs.
Political Spring did not participate in the 2002 general election, but Antonis Samaras publicly supported the New Democracy party. Before the 2004 general election, Samaras rejoined New Democracy and he was elected as a MEP in the 2004 European elections.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Georgios Papoulias |
Minister for
Foreign Affairs 1989 – 1990 |
Succeeded by Georgios Papoulias |
| Minister for
Foreign Affairs 1990 – 1992 |
Succeeded by Konstantinos Mitsotakis |
|
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