Greece swears in conservative prime minister

Greek conservative leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis became the country’s new prime minister Monday after his New Democracy party won a weekend parliamentary election. With at least 90 percent of the ballots counted, Mitsotakis’ party received the largest proportion of the vote to secure an estimated 158 seats in the 300-member Parliament. The extreme right-wing Golden Dawn party narrowly failed to reach the 3 percent threshold to win any parliamentary seats, bucking the rising European trend that has seen populist parties take control. The party said in a statement that it plans to request a recount.

Mitsotakis promised to cut taxes, attract investment, and improve the job market. “Greeks deserve better, and the time has come for us to prove it,” he said.

Former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called for the election three months early after his party faced defeat in the European Union and in local elections earlier this year. He conceded defeat and pledged his leftist Syriza party would remain “a responsible but dynamic opposition.”