There are voters who identify themselves as right-wing, who are not satisfied with the ND. Someone because of the current policy, someone because he considers it ideologically “compromised”. Some of these voters, despite their dissatisfaction, will again vote for her according to the “no hands” logic. But some seem to vote for the party to the right of ND. Consequently, mobility in this area seems to be increased, with several faces and figures aimed at specific audiences.

With this approach, ND is, yes, in danger from right to left.

This risk increases as long as the first elections based on simple proportionality are perceived as procedural, and therefore as an opportunity to hold an inexpensive protest vote. While no one can underestimate the general radicalization at the international level in the last decade in the space of the right, which – usually passively and reluctantly – has been shaping the global “agenda” of this space.

Of course, there are also parameters that limit the risk of N.D. Absence, for example. a person who could unite disparate forces and express the agenda of the domestic radical right is obvious. The very policy of the government in some areas (technology, foreign policy, etc.), but also the eternal universality of N.D. it also creates dams and limits leakages.

At the moment, the parties moving to the right of ND claim the percentage. doesn’t seem able to overturn her lead. However, this may affect the chances of independence in the second election, where all these schemes are expected to be tested. Forms, which, of course, do not include the party of Ilias Kasidiaris, which, due to its extremist nature and neo-Nazi roots, surpasses the characteristics of a typical right-wing radical party. This particular formation does not threaten the ND in the elections. as he addresses an audience with which N.D. he hasn’t spoken in a long time.

Next to managerial pragmatism, there should be value content. Because, as Georges Pompidou said, “no one gave his life for inflation to fall by 2%.”

Danger for N.D. it could grow in the long run if, as a faction as a whole, it gave the impression that it was abandoning the battle of ideas. There are always voters who, in addition to managerial competence, are also looking for value identifications. Not necessarily in the classical terms of (largely outdated) political vocabulary, but by no means devoid of symbols and concepts.

De Gaulle is credited with the phrase “The left is for reflection, and the right is for action.” Indeed, most centre-right parties in post-war Europe focused more on governmental pragmatism than on ideological struggles. The Greek right was no exception, despite occasional efforts.

But this is far from the ideological defeat of the right in Greece. The Right may have lost the battle of historiography and fiction (and not forever, because much is being revised now), but they have won all the essential strategies, policies and, ultimately, value battles regarding the orientation of the country. While the left was publishing books or making films with its historical narrative, the right was dragging the country into NATO, into the EU, promoting a free economy and tying the country to the Western world. The shift of the centre-left towards the fundamental positions of the Greek right in the post-colonial period is much greater than vice versa. As for the still existing stereotypes of “a good, clean, popular child – an evil and heartless rich man”, it is somewhat superficial to attribute them to the notorious “ideological hegemony of the left”. It is enough to look at black-and-white Greek films of those decades when there was a monarchy in Greece, and the KKE was outlawed.

Returning to the central question: in the long run and more generally, the risk for N.D. to his right – barring, of course, any managerial errors or unforeseen circumstances – will grow if he is seen to abandon some of the basic concepts that have historically functioned as a unifier for the European centre-right movement and still enjoy great public acceptance. Protection of freedom and property. Striving for the political and military power of the country. Respect for the “eternal society”, which ensures its continuity through the smooth evolution and obligations of each generation towards its ancestors and descendants.

Next to managerial pragmatism, there should be value content. Because, as another great (and probably underestimated) President of France, Georges Pompidou, said, “No one gave their life to get inflation to fall by 2%.”

​​​​​​​Mr. Eftichis Vardoulakis is a Strategy and Communications Consultant.