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Union of Centrists Ένωση Κεντρώων Énosi Kentróon | |
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| Abbreviation | ΕΚ |
| Leader | Vassilis Leventis |
| Founded | 2 March 1992 |
| Headquarters | 28 Karolou St. 122 42Athens |
| Newspaper | Antidiaploki |
| Youth wing | Youth Union of Centrists |
| Ideology | Venizelism[1] Social liberalism[2] Pro-Europeanism |
| Political position | Centre[1] |
| Colours | Orange |
| Hellenic Parliament | 0 / 300 |
| European Parliament | 0 / 21 |
| Website | |
| enosi-kentroon.gr | |
TheUnion of Centrists (Greek:Ένωση Κεντρώων,romanized: Énosi Kentróon,IPA:[ˈenosicenˈdro.on]) is acentrist,[1]liberal[1]political party inGreece. The leader and founder of the party is the veteran anti-corruption activistVassilis Leventis. It strongly supports Greece in remaining an integral part of theEuropean Union.
The party was founded byVassilis Leventis in 1992 under the title "Union of Centrists and Ecologists" (Greek:Ένωση Κεντρώων και Οικολόγων). The name was changed shortly after. The Union of Centrists claims to be the ideological continuation of the old partyCentre Union. Previously Vassilis Leventis was a part of thePASOK party when it was launched, but Vassilis Leventis left and started the Union of Centrists because of disagreements.
The party strives to become "the political continuance of the centrist expression in Greece". Leventis aimed to become part of theVenizelist legacy of some Greek politicians of the past, such asEleftherios Venizelos andGeorge Papandreou (senior).
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Until 2015, the party's influence was marginal, with 1.79% of the total vote in theJanuary 2015 Greek legislative election and no MPs being its highest achievement. In theSeptember 2015 Greek legislative election the party cleared the 3%hurdle for representation in the Greek Parliament with nine MPs after it won 186,457 votes (3.43%).[3] Two MPs left the parliamentary group: Georgios Dimitrios Karras in November 2016 and Theodora Megaloeconomou in July 2017, the latter becoming aSyriza MP in January 2018. The party currently has no MPs.[4][5]
In the2019 election, the party did not reach the 3% threshold and thus lost representation in theHellenic Parliament.
| Election | Hellenic Parliament | Rank | Government | Leader | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±pp | Seats won | +/− | ||||
| 1993 | 15,926 | 0.23% | New | 0 / 300 | New | 7th | Extra-parliamentary | Vassilis Leventis |
| 1996 | 48,659 | 0.72% | +0.49 | 0 / 300 |  0 | 7th | Extra-parliamentary | |
| 2000 | 23,218 | 0.34% | –0.38 | 0 / 300 | 0 | 7th | Extra-parliamentary | |
| 2004 | 19,510 | 0.26% | –0.12 | 0 / 300 | 0 | 7th | Extra-parliamentary | |
| 2007 | 20,840 | 0.29% | +0.03 | 0 / 300 | 0 | 8th | Extra-parliamentary | |
| 2009 | 18,296 | 0.27% | –0.02 | 0 / 300 | 0 | 11th | Extra-parliamentary | |
| May 2012 | 38,313 | 0.61% | +0.34 | 0 / 300 | 0 | 17th | Extra-parliamentary | |
| Jun 2012 | 17,145 | 0.28% | –0.33 | 0 / 300 | 0 | 14th | Extra-parliamentary | |
| Jan 2015 | 110,923 | 1.79% | +1.51 | 0 / 300 | 0 | 9th | Extra-parliamentary | |
| Sep 2015 | 186,644 | 3.44% | +1.65 | 9 / 300 |  9 | 6th | Opposition | |
| 2019 | 70,178 | 1.24% | –2.20 | 0 / 300 |  9 | 9th | Extra-parliamentary | |
| May 2023 | 22,449 | 0.38% | –0.86 | 0 / 300 | 0 | 16th | Extra-parliamentary | |
| Jun 2023 | 14,881 | 0.29% | –0.09 | 0 / 300 | 0 | 16th | Extra-parliamentary | |
| European Parliament | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Election | Votes | % | ±pp | Seats won | +/− | Rank | Leader | EP Group |
| 1994 | 77,951 | 1.19% | New | 0 / 21 | New | 7th | Vassilis Leventis | − |
| 1999 | 52,512 | 0.82% | −0.37 | 0 / 21 | 0 | 9th | ||
| 2004 | 34,511 | 0.56% | −0.26 | 0 / 21 | 0 | 9th | ||
| 2009 | 19,660 | 0.38% | −0.18 | 0 / 21 | 0 | 14th | ||
| 2014 | 36,879 | 0.64% | +0.26 | 0 / 21 | 0 | 19th | ||
| 2019 | 82,072 | 1.45% | +0.81 | 0 / 21 | 0 | 10th | ||
| 2024 | 10,933 | 0.27% | –1.18 | 0 / 21 | 0 | 22nd | ||