Greece's ruling New Democracy party has appointed four new deputy press spokespersons under a decision made by party president and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
The new appointees are Porfylenia Kanellopoulou, Odysseas Nassibian, Christos Lagadianos, and Paula Damianou. New Democracy press spokesperson Alexandra Sdoukou will coordinate the deputy team, with the goal of strengthening the party's public presence and promoting its positions and initiatives more effectively.
New Democracy is Greece's centre-right governing party, led by Mitsotakis since 2016. All four new spokespersons have advanced through the party's youth wing, ONNED, and its university student federation, DAP-NDFK, reflecting a continuing push to promote younger legal and communication professionals into national roles.
Legal careers and political backgrounds
Porfylenia Kanellopoulou is an Athens-based lawyer originally from Kyparissia in Messinia. A graduate of the Democritus University of Thrace Faculty of Law, she holds master's degrees in law and economics from the University of Piraeus and in public law and public policy from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She works as an active trial attorney focusing on civil and corporate law.
Kanellopoulou began her political activity with DAP-NDFK in Komotini before serving as director of the press and information office and official press spokesperson for ONNED. She sits on the New Democracy Political Committee and ran as a parliamentary candidate on the nationwide state list in the 2023 elections.
Odysseas Nassibian is an Athens lawyer and local councillor in Nea Smyrni, where he was born in 1998. After graduating from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Faculty of Law, he established his own law practice in 2022. First elected to the Nea Smyrni municipal council in 2019, he oversaw portfolios covering new technologies, innovation, youth, and public participation.
From 2022 to 2023, Nassibian served as deputy mayor for sanitation and acting deputy mayor of Nea Smyrni. He has also represented the municipality at the Chisinau Urban Forum under UNESCO's Learning Cities network and participated in youth projects and European Erasmus+ programmes.
Campaign strategy and public debate
Christos Lagadianos was born and raised in Piraeus and holds a degree in political science from the University of Crete, alongside a Master of Business Administration in tourism from the University of Piraeus. He works in political communication and the planning and execution of political campaigns.
Lagadianos is the co-founder and vice president of Debate House, a non-profit organisation that promotes structured public debates and educational workshops. He previously served as secretary of DAP-NDFK in Rethymno, won election to the Central Committee of ONNED, and serves as an ONNED representative on the New Democracy Political Committee.
Paula Damianou is a lawyer, political scientist, and accredited mediator originally from Drama in northern Greece. She graduated from the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and earned a law degree from European University Cyprus, followed by postgraduate studies in economic law at City University of London.
Damianou was active in DAP-NDFK and gained election to both the ONNED Central Committee and the New Democracy Political Committee. In 2019, she won election as a community councillor in the first municipal district of Athens and served as president of the Koukaki Friendship Club, before running as a New Democracy parliamentary candidate in Athens A during the 2023 national elections.
The four new deputies will support Sdoukou in managing daily media inquiries, television appearances, and party announcements as the governing party seeks to project its legislative agenda across Greece.
