Ex-Greek PM Mitsotakis dies
— Constantine Mitsotakis, a former conservative prime minister remembered for fierce confrontations with Greece’s liberal and socialist parties as well as early free-market reforms during a 60-year political career, died early Monday. He was 98.
“Today at 1 a.m. Constantine Mitsotakis departed life, surrounded by those whom he loved and who loved him,” his family said in a statement. No cause of death was given.
Mitsotakis served as prime minister between 1990 and 1993, a brief spell during two decades dominated by his Socialist rivals. He retired from active politics in 2004 but remained hon- orary chairman of the center-right New Democracy party.
He was credited with starting unpopular financial reforms to loosen state control of the economy, which were quietly continued by later governments, and improving relations with Turkey. But he was also often regarded as a divisive figure in a country struggling to escape its volatile political history.