NEWS

Former EU Commissioner Stavros Dimas emerges as presidential candidate frontrunner

Former European Commissioner Stavros Dimas has emerged as the frontrunner for Greece’s presidential candidacy following a meeting with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on Tuesday morning, a day after the coalition government announced that it is moving up the electoral process.

While there was no official confirmation from Samaras’s or Dimas’s offices, sources told Kathimerini that Samaras asked Dimas to stand for president in three rounds of voting in Parliament, on December 17, 23 and 29.

Samaras is due to meet with coalition partner Evangelos Venizelos later in the day before the name of the nominee is officially announced.

Dimas, 73, is the vice president of New Democracy and served as EU commissioner for the environment from 2004 to 2010 and as Greece’s minister for foreign affairs from November 2011 to May 2012.

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