Alexios Tsipras

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Alexios Tsipras was born in Athens in 1974. He is a Greek politician who is currently the Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA). He was first elected to the Hellenic Parliament in 2009, and was the Party of the European Left nominee for President of the European Commission in the 2014 European Parliament election.

Political Career[edit]

He joined the Young Communists Society in the late 1980s. In the early 1990s, he was politically active in the student uprising against the controversial law of then-Education Minister Vasilis Kontogiannopoulos, as a student of Ampelokipoi Branch High School. As a university student, he joined the ranks of the renovative left-wing movement, particularly the "Enceladus" (Greek: Εγκέλαδος) group, and as member of it was elected to the executive board of the students' union of the Civil Engineering School of NTUA, and also served as student representative on the University Senate. From 1995 to 1997 he was an elected member of the Central Council of the National Students Union of Greece (EFEE).

After the departure of the Communist Party of Greece from Synaspismos, Tsipras remained in the party. He was the first political secretary of the youth-wing of Synaspismos Neolaia Syn from May 1999 to November 2003, and was succeeded by Tasos Koronakis. Despite the very clear radical left-wing profile, he has maintained as Leader of Synaspismos, he was a centrist during his period of leadership in Neolaia Syn. He managed efficiently to maintain a strong adherence to the policy of the party, effectively outvoicing political deviants to the left and the right. As Secretary of Synaspismos Youth, he took an active part in the process of creating the Greek Social Forum and attended all of the international protests and marches against Neoliberal Globalization. In December 2004, at the 4th Congress of Synaspismos, he was elected a member of the party's Central Political Committee and consequently to the Political Secretariat, where he was responsible for educational and youth issues.

Tsipras first entered the limelight of mainstream Greek politics during the 2006 local election when he ran for the municipality of Athens under the "Anoihti Poli" (Greek: Ανοιχτή Πόλη, "Open City") SYRIZA ticket that gained 10.51% of the Athenian vote. He did not run for the Hellenic Parliament in the 2007 election, choosing to continue to complete his term as a member of the municipal council of Athens.

Alexis Tsipras giving his speech as a presidential candidate at the 5th Congress of Synaspismos. He was elected Leader of Synaspismos during the 5th Congress on 10 February 2008, after the previous Leader Alekos Alavanos decided not to stand again due to personal reasons. Tsipras became Leader of Synaspismos at the age of 33, thus becoming the youngest ever leader of a Greek political party. In the 2009 election, he was elected to the Hellenic Parliament for Athens and was subsequently voted unanimously to be the head of the SYRIZA parliamentary group. Tsipras led SYRIZA through the 2012 elections, overseeing a swing of over 22% to the party, and becoming the Leader of the Opposition.

In December 2013 he was the first candidate proposed for the position of President of the Commission of the European Union by the Nordic Greens/European Left. In the vote of the EU member states election to the European Parliament in May 2014, he campaigned as the only candidate of the south periphery countries. In the beginning of May 2014, in a speech in Berlin, Capital of Germany, he clarified many of his positions, in opposition to the allegedly Merkel dominated Neo-Liberal political course in Europe. Angela Merkel has been the Chancellor of Germany since 2005, and as such, she has been quite influential in the policies of the European Union.

Education Career[edit]

He studied Civil Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens, graduating in 2000, before undertaking postgraduate studies in Urban and Regional Planning following an Inter-Departmental MPhil at the School of Architecture of NTUA. Alongside his postgraduate studies, he began working as a civil engineer in the construction industry.

Notable Work[edit]

He wrote several studies and projects on the theme of the city of Athens.

External Links[edit]

Hellenic Parliament Webpage Alexios Tsipras Biography- Wikipedia