Mitsotakis: We will fully respect the mandate of the Greek people

"The Greek people have given us a strong mandate to change Greece. We will fully respect it," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Monday, in statements as he emerged from the ceremony where he was sworn in as the new prime minister of the country.

"The hard work starts today. I have complete confidence in our ability to rise to the challenge," the prime minister added.

Mitsotakis then headed to the Maximos Mansion, where outgoing premier Alexis Tsipras was waiting for him at the top of the stairs at the entrance. Mitsotakis climbed them quickly, exchanged a brief handshake with Alexis Tsipras, and then Tsipras accompanied him inside the Maximos Mansion.

Tsipras noted that this handover process was not observed when he became prime minister in 2015, when his predecessor was not there to welcome him.

Mitsotakis was sworn in as prime minister at 13:00 on Monday, in the presence of the President of the Hellenic Republic Prokopios Pavlopoulos and Archbishop of Athens and all Greece Ieronymos.