Fifty-seven people were killed in the head-on collision between a freight train and a passenger train packed with students outside the town of Tempe in central Greece, just before midnight on February 28, 2023. While the ruling conservative party won a landslide re-election just months after the disaster, public frustration over the tragedy and its aftermath has since boiled over, culminating in a wave of massive nationwide protests that have shaken Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ government to its core.
The fact that this response occurred two years after the crash has prompted questions about why the Greek public is reacting now. Experts cite a glaringly flawed parliamentary inquiry fueling perceptions of a cover-up, the release of chilling audio recordings, and the inevitable wear-and-tear of the administration as key factors driving the timing of the backlash.
“There comes a moment in public opinion when crystallization occurs – often unpredictable and sometimes just as difficult to explain. When this happens, it becomes a major, large-scale collective event that is not easily reversed,” says Gerassimos Moschonas, a professor of comparative politics at Athens’ Panteion University.
Flawed inquiry
While the exact triggers behind this tipping point remain complex, Moschonas points to the controversial parliamentary inquiry, established in November 2023 to investigate the disaster, which killed 57 people, as a key factor in fueling resentment. Chaired by New Democracy MP Dimitris Markopoulos, the committee faced severe criticism for excluding key witnesses and failing to examine the full case file held by the investigating judge in Larissa.
‘There comes a moment in public opinion when crystallization occurs – often unpredictable and sometimes just as difficult to explain. When this happens, it becomes a major, large-scale collective event that is not easily reversed’
The 700-page report drawn up by the MPs on the committee was adopted in March 2024 by the New Democracy-led majority on the panel. It concluded that while modern safety systems had not been installed, the crash ultimately resulted from human error – effectively downplaying the role of outdated and inadequate railway infrastructure. Rejecting allegations of a cover-up, the report claimed that political responsibility had been assumed by then-transport minister Kostas A. Karamanlis, who resigned on the day of the crash – only to be re-elected months later. Even Mitsotakis ultimately acknowledged the inquiry’s shortcomings. In a January 2024 interview, he admitted that “the work of the committee was not the Parliament’s finest moment.”
“The committee gave the impression that it was not conducting a proper oversight investigation or acting impartially. Mr Markopoulos, who chaired the committee on behalf of the ruling party, appeared to pursue a strategy of concealment or, at the very least, of downplaying certain facts related to this tragic event,” Moschonas says.
‘No oxygen’
Another major turning point for public sentiment came in late January 2025, when leaked audio recordings from the crash site surfaced. The heart-wrenching recordings of victims’ emergency calls to the 112 helpline suggested that some of them may have survived the initial collision but perished in a fire of yet unconfirmed origin that burned for over an hour after the crash.
In the recordings, passengers can be heard crying out, “I have no oxygen,” “Help,” and “I can’t breathe.” The raw, harrowing nature of these calls, Moschonas says, had a profound impact on the public – especially young people and parents.
“Everyone who heard it was deeply moved. People cried. Through that audio footage, we experienced, in slow motion, the final moments of people’s lives – many of them young individuals,” he says.
“It was a shock that was somewhat underestimated. These recordings shaped people’s perceptions, making them deeply convinced of the event’s gravity. They didn’t just revive the memory – they gave it flesh, and bones.”
Political fatigue
Beyond the controversy surrounding the fatal collision, analysts suggest that another factor contributing to the ongoing backlash is the wear-and-tear of prolonged governance. Now in the middle of its fifth consecutive year in power, the Mitsotakis administration has shown clear signs of fatigue, a trend already reflected in its lackluster performance in the June 2024 European Parliament elections, where New Democracy secured just 28.31% of the vote, significantly lower than the 40.56% it won in the legislative elections a year earlier.
On Friday, the government survived a censure motion over its handling of the disaster, winning a confidence vote by 157 to 136 ballots. In a rare show of unity, the motion was put forward by four center-left and left-wing opposition parties, which argued that the Mitsotakis administration had lost its popular mandate.
According to an MRB poll released on the same day, just 20 percent of respondents said they would vote for New Democracy if elections were held today. This was enough to keep the party ahead of the main opposition, socialist PASOK, which came second with 11.5 percent. Additionally, 57.5 percent supported holding early elections. Meanwhile, 75.2 percent alleged there was a cover-up in the Tempe disaster, while 78.5 percent thought the government is not doing enough to bring the truth to light.
The same poll found that although the cost-of-living crisis remains the most pressing issue for 46.1 percent of respondents; it is now followed closely by concerns about shortcomings in the justice system and the rule of law, cited as a top concern by 44 percent – a notable increase of 19.2 percentage points from the previous survey.
“The decline of the government is, of course, not solely due to the Tempe disaster,” Moschonas says.
Grievance politics
Lamprini Rori, assistant professor of political analysis at the University of Athens, takes this argument a step further, asserting that the massive demonstrations erupted belatedly precisely because they were not just a demand for justice and transparency regarding the tragedy.
“They encapsulate a broader discontent over the state’s inefficiency, institutional failures, the rising cost of living, and other grievances that had not been as pronounced two years earlier,” Rori says, emphasizing that the period from the change of government in 2019 until the end of 2024 was, by Greek standards, marked by an unusual social and political calm.
“Perhaps never before in post-dictatorship Greece had social protest been so minimal – almost nonexistent – accompanied by few strikes and virtually no political violence,” she says.
‘These recordings shaped people’s perceptions, making them deeply convinced of the event’s gravity. They didn’t just revive the memory – they gave it flesh, and bones’
According to Rori, the Tempe tragedy served as a political catalyst, providing both an outlet for these simmering grievances and an opportunity to forge an opposition front that had previously been absent.
“While the initial demonstrations were sparked by the victims’ relatives and drew a spontaneous crowd of unorganized citizens – including many who had voted for New Democracy – they were soon structured and reinforced by labor unions, opposition parties, and student and youth movements,” she says, highlighting the role of traditional collective actors in social movements fueled by grievance politics.
Uncertain impact
However, while experts agree that this moment of reckoning was inevitable and public discontent is undeniable, its full impact on voter behavior remains uncertain.
“The translation of negative assessments and sentiments into electoral preference is not straightforward,” says Ioannis Konstantinidis, a political behavior expert at the University of Macedonia.
Konstantinidis, who also directs the weekly People of Greece survey at the Qed market and social research firm, explains that while an estimated 75% of Greeks clearly oppose the government’s handling of the disaster investigation, they have yet to solidify their voting choices. In contrast, the remaining 25% firmly support the current administration, regardless of how their preferences are measured.
“Greeks are taking to the streets in protest against the government, yet at the same time, they feel a lack of political representation. And that is their dilemma,” he says.
The next general election is scheduled for 2027. Prior to Friday’s vote, Mitsotakis ruled out a snap election, expressing confidence that citizens would reward his economic policies. Recent events, though, have created much more doubt about voting preferences than there was even just a few months ago. The Tempe crash could yet prove an inflexion point for the government.