The public discussion between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Books’ Journal publisher and journalist Elias Kanellis, which was postponed in December, will take place on Monday, January 19, 2026, at 7 p.m. The event is part of the series “And These Are Greece – Discussions at the Athens Conservatory,” co-organized by The Books’ Journal and the Athens Conservatory, with free admission.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis will be invited to talk about his political and intellectual journey, his relationship with knowledge, and the qualities needed to be a modern politician. The ideas and readings that shaped him, his influences, his role models, his friends, and his opponents are some of the topics that will be up for discussion. Finally, because a conversation with the prime minister is an opportunity for substantive political discussion, Kyriakos Mitsotakis will be asked to answer difficult questions on issues raised by the current situation.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis has been elected prime minister twice, in the 2019 and 2023 elections. The son of another prime minister, Konstantinos Mitsotakis, he was born in 1968, graduated from Athens College, and continued his studies in the United States at Harvard and Stanford. He worked as a financial analyst at Chase Investment Bank and as a consultant at McKinsey and Company in London, then at Alpha Ventures of Alpha Bank and the National Bank Group, and served as CEO of National Business Holdings.

He became active in politics as a member of the New Democracy party. He was first elected to parliament in 2004 in the Second District of Athens. He served as Minister of Administrative Reform and e-Governance from 2013 to 2015. On January 10, 2016, he was elected president of New Democracy, with which he won the next elections in 2019. Since then, he has been the Prime Minister of Greece.

Admission to the audience is free.