Third Hellenic Republic

The former prime minister Konstantinos Karamanlis was invited back from self-exile and the first multiparty elections since 1964 were held on the first anniversary of the Polytechnic uprising. A democratic and republican constitution was promulgated in 1975 following a referendum which chose not to restore the monarchy. Meanwhile, Andreas Papandreou, George Papandreou's son, founded the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) in response to Karamanlis's conservative New Democracy party, with the two political formations dominating government over the next four decades. Greece rejoined NATO in 1980.^[a][11]

Greece became the tenth member of the European Communities in 1981, ushering in sustained growth. Investments in industrial enterprises and heavy infrastructure, as well as funds from the European Union and growing revenue from tourism, shipping, and a fast-growing service sector raised the standard of living. In 1981, Andreas Papandreou came to power and implemented an ambitious program of social reforms. He recognised civil marriage, the dowry was abolished, while expanding access to education and health care. However, he made controversial foreign policy decisions that fueled the rise of terrorism in Greece. Papandreou's tenure has been associated with corruption (see Koskotas and Yugoslav corn scandals), the first constitutional crisis of the new republic, and economic policies failed to address the persistent stagflation and chronic budget deficits that exacerbated Greece's economic problems.^[12][13]

The 1990s saw the standard of living among Greeks steadily increase, a trend which reached its zenith around the time of the 2004 Summer Olympics to the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. The country adopted the euro in 2001 and successfully hosted the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens.^[9]

In 2010, Greece suffered from the Great Recession and related European sovereign debt crisis. The causes of the crisis in Greece have been attributed to a failure of PASOK and ND to fully adopt democratic practices after the end of the monarchy and a failure to modernize their structure.^[14][15] Due to the adoption of the euro, Greece could no longer devalue its currency to regain competitiveness.^[16] The Greek debt crisis brought about great changes on both a social and political level, and the two main political parties, PASOK and New Democracy, collapsed during the 2012 elections.^[17] In 2015, Alexis Tsipras was elected as prime minister, the first outside the two main parties.^[18] The Greek government-debt crisis, and subsequent austerity policies, resulted in social strife. The crisis ended around 2018, with the end of the bailout mechanisms and return of growth.^[10] Simultaneously, Tsipras, and the leader of North Macedonia, Zoran Zaev, signed the Prespa Agreement, solving the naming dispute that had strained the relations and eased the latter's way to become a member of the EU and NATO.^[19]

In 2019, Kyriakos Mitsotakis became Greece's new prime minister, after his centre-right New Democracy won the election.^[20] The COVID-19 pandemic caused economic hardship for Greece. In 2020, Greece's parliament elected a non-partisan candidate, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, as the first female President of Greece.^[21] In February 2024, Greece became the first Orthodox Christian country to recognise same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couples.^[22]

In 2023, Greece became a member of the Three Seas Initiative.^[23]

• Michail Stasinopoulos (1974–1975)
• Konstantinos Tsatsos (1975–1980)
• Konstantinos Karamanlis (1980–1985)
• Ioannis Alevras (1985) (Acting)
• Christos Sartzetakis (1985–1990)
• Konstantinos Karamanlis (1990–1995)
• Konstantinos Stephanopoulos (1995–2005)
• Karolos Papoulias (2005–2015)
• Prokopis Pavlopoulos (2015–2020)
• Katerina Sakellaropoulou (2020–2025)
• Konstantinos Tasoulas (2025–present)