Greece’s Tsipras sworn in as new prime minister

Alexis Tsipras the leader of left-wing Syriza party waves to his supporters after the election results at the party’s main electoral center in Athens, Sunday, September 20, 2015.

“I think that today Europe can realize its responsibilities in a European problem”, Tsipras noted during his meeting with Pavlopoulos.

Tsipras was sworn in for a second term as prime minister this evening, after his Syriza party secured a surprisingly strong victory in the country’s snap elections yesterday.

On her side, Vassiliki Thanou congratulated Tsipras on his win.

The new government has 16 ministers and 30 deputy ministers, but only four women including the spokeswoman.

The Independent Greeks party differs from Syriza on a number of issues, supporting a crackdown on illegal immigration and favoring close links between the Orthodox Church and the state.

Dean Sirigos, senior writer for the Greek-American newspaper, The National Herald, says he was surprised Tsipras won re-election by such a wide margin.

Mr Tsipras called the election after his party split a month ago, with rebels denouncing him for agreeing to implement tax increases, spending cuts and market reforms demanded by creditors in return for another bailout.

However, a sombre Mr Tsipras warned that Greeks faced a difficult road and recovery from financial crisis would only come through hard work.

With the winner’s bonus that the system gives it, Syriza will have 145 of the 300 seats in parliament, and will apparently renew its coalition with the right-wing Independent Greeks (ANEL), who scraped back with 3.7% and ten seats (down three).

The new Greek government has a mandate to carry out the reforms the country agreed upon with its global lenders in July, the European Commission said on Monday.

He’s calling for the European Union to better assist reception countries including Greece.

This new vote ensures that Tsipras will remain Greece’s dominant political figure on the third time that Greeks had to vote this year.

The new government will also need to tackle the ongoing migration crisis, as hundreds of refugees continue to arrive on Greece’s eastern islands after travelling on unsafe inflatable dinghies.