Costas Karamanlis

Prime Minister of Greece

(New Democracy Web Site, Athens News Agency; BBC; Financial Times; CNN, Reuters)

Costas Karamanlis was sworn in as Greece's prime minister on 10 March 2004, three days after his New Democracy (ND) party won a sweeping victory in parliamentary elections in which the party regained power after more than a decade.

Karamanlis took over from his predecessor, Costas Simitis, at a critical stage in UN-brokered negotiations on a deal to reunite Cyprus. Naming it his first priority, the prime minister vowed to work for "a just, viable and European solution" for the Mediterranean island.

Another pressing issue facing the government, and a major test for the country's new leader, is the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics. Pledging to make the Games the "best and most secure ever", Karamanlis chose to take personal charge by also heading the culture ministry, which is supervising the preparations.

We "will have no grace period", Karamanlis said at the government's first meeting. "It's our commitment to act with modesty, with humility, with boldness, with decisiveness, with vision, with planning, with optimism and with gusto."

Karamanlis is a member of one of the two most influential political dynasties in Greece. His uncle and namesake, former Greek Prime Minister and President Constantine Karamanlis, founded ND in 1974. The elder Karamanlis negotiated Greece's entry, in 1981, into what was then known as the European Economic Community.

The new Greek prime minister joined the party in 1979 and has served as ND deputy for Thessaloniki since 1989. Karamanlis took over its leadership in March 1997, and has won himself a reputation as an astute politician.

Karamanlis was born on 14 September 1956 in Athens. He graduated from Athens University's Law School in 1979 and then studied economics at the private Deree College. He holds a master's degree in political science and economics and a PhD in diplomatic history, both from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in the United States, where he studied from 1980 to 1984.

Karamanlis practised law from 1984 to 1989 and taught political science, diplomatic history and corporate law at Deree College between 1983 and 1985.

Karamanlis is fluent in English, German and French. He is married to Natasa Pazaitis and has two children.