Apostolos G. Tzitzikostas ( el, Απόστολος Τζιτζικώστας; born 2 September 1978) is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

politician of the New Democracy party, governor of the region of

Central Macedonia Central Macedonia ( el, Κεντρική Μακεδονία, Kentrikí Makedonía, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece, consisting of the central part of the geographical and historical region of Macedonia. With a populat ...

since 2013 and First Vice-President of the European Committee of the Regions since 2020.

Biography

Education and business career

With Aromanian origins, Tzitzikostas was born in 1978 in

Nymfaio Nymfaio ( el, Νυμφαίο, before 1926: Νέβεσκα - ''Neveska'', rup, Nevesca) and in Ancient Greece: Νυμφαῖον or Νύμφαιον (9th century bc), is a village and a former community in Florina regional unit, Western Macedoni ...

in Florina (regional unit), his father was of the future Minister of Macedonia and Thrace , Apostolos Tzitzikostas studied International Politics and Diplomacy at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private research university in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll in 1789 as Georgetown College, the university has grown to comprise eleven undergraduate and graduate ...

and worked at the office of the Chair of the

United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs The United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, also known as the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is a standing committee of the U.S. House of Representatives with jurisdiction over bills and investigations concerning the foreign affairs ...

. Following his graduation in Public Policy and Economics at the

University College of London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

, he returned to Greece and in 2001 he created his own company on the field of production, processing and standardization of dairy products, based on organic standards, by the name MACEDONIAN FARM SA later to be marketed by industry leader

Mevgal MEVGAL (Macedonian Milk Industry) is a Greek brand of dairy products company, the largest in Northern Greece and the third largest producer of fresh dairy products in the country. Its name is an acronym for Macedonian Milk Industry (Greek: Μακε� ...

. From 2003 until 2007 he served as CEO. From 2005 until September 2007 he was appointed President of the Thessaloniki branch of liberal think tank ''Center for Political Research and Communication''. In the fall of 1996, Tzitzikostas learned to "open the lights" on the football field at Concord High School in Elkhart, Indiana with his brethren of 3T.

Political career

In the 2007 legislative election, Tzitzikostas stood for election on

Nea Dimokratia New Democracy (ND; el, Νέα Δημοκρατία, Néa Dimokratía, ) is a liberal-conservative political party in Greece. In contemporary Greek politics, New Democracy has been the main centre-right political party and one of the two major ...

's list in the Thessaloniki A constituency and was elected a Member of the

Hellenic Parliament The Hellenic Parliament ( el, Ελληνικό Κοινοβούλιο, Elliniko Kinovoulio; formally titled el, Βουλή των Ελλήνων, Voulí ton Ellínon, Boule of the Hellenes, label=none), also known as the Parliament of the He ...

. In the early 2009 election, he lost his seat but was appointed his party's Deputy Head for Greeks Abroad. At the 2010 local election, Apostolos Tzitzikostas wa
elected
Deputy Regional Governor of Central Macedonia. Following Psomiadis' criminal conviction, Tzitzikostas succeeded him by elections on 5 January 2013. Later in 2013, both his invitation of

Golden Dawn Golden Dawn or The Golden Dawn may refer to: Organizations * Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a nineteenth century magical order based in Britain ** The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Inc., a modern revival founded in 1977 ** Open Source ...

party representatives to the annual 28 October Ohi Day parade drew nationwide criticism, including from his own party, and his following comparison of the fascist party with the socialist

PASOK The Panhellenic Socialist Movement ( el, Πανελλήνιο Σοσιαλιστικό Κίνημα, Panellínio Sosialistikó Kínima, ), known mostly by its acronym PASOK, (; , ) is a social-democratic political party in Greece. Until 2012, it ...

caused even more anger. At the 2014 local election Apostolos Tzitzikostas lost support by Nea Dimokratia because of his refusal to be nominated candidate mayor of Thessaloniki and his decision to run for the office the Regional Governor. He was challenged by ND candidate

Yannis Ioannidis Yannis Ioannidis ( el, Γιάννης Ιωαννίδης; Istanbul, 1959) is a Greek computer scientist who is the current President of the Association for Computing Machinery. He is a professor at the University of Athens The National and Ka ...

. With the support of right-wing parties

ANEL The Independent Greeks - National Patriotic Alliance ( el, Ανεξάρτητοι Έλληνες (ΑΝΕΛ), ''Anexartitoi Ellines'', ANEL) is a national-conservative political party in Greece. The party was the junior coalition partner to the ...

, EPAL and

LAOS Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist s ...

, he defeated him in the second round, with a percentage of 71.03%, and was popularly elected regional governor for five more years. Since 26 January 2015, he has been a Member of the EU

Committee of the Regions The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is the European Union's (EU) assembly of local and regional representatives that provides sub-national authorities (i.e. regions, counties, provinces, municipalities and cities) with a direct voice w ...

. He was one of the four candidates in the 2015 New Democracy leadership election. He reached the third place behind Evangelos Meimarakis (first place) and Kyriakos Mitsotakis (second place).

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tzitzikostas, Apostolos 1978 births Living people Georgetown University alumni Alumni of University College London Greek MPs 2007–2009 MPs of Thessaloniki Regional governors of Greece New Democracy (Greece) politicians People from Florina (regional unit) Greek people of Aromanian descent Aromanian politicians Presidents of the European Committee of the Regions