Mitsotakis holds office in face of no-confidence vote

The prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, survived a no-confidence vote over a phone-tapping scandal that has shocked the nation and sparked mounting concern in the EU.

After three days of rancorous debate, the censure motion was defeated last Friday by 156 votes to 143 in the 300-seat chamber of deputies. The leader of the opposition Syriza party, Alexis Tsipras, said: “It will not prevent your electoral defeat.”

With polls due in the coming months, the scandal shows little sign of abating. Mitsotakis had publicly welcomed the motion but the revelations around the scandal have come at a cost for him.