With only a few days left until the second round in the leadership elections of main opposition party New Democracy, the two candidates – Evangelos Meimarakis and Kyriakos Mitsotakis – are escalating their campaigns aiming for the supporters of Apostolos Tzitzikostas.

In his public statement on Tuesday, Mr. Tzitzikostas thanked everyone who supported him in his endeavor, but avoided openly expressing his support for either candidate in the second round. Instead, he underlined that everyone who voted in the first round must continue to support the party without any external influences.

This statement came contrast to that of Adonis Georgiadis who came in last in the first round and has openly supported the Mitsotakis candidacy.

On Tuesday Mr. Georgiadis played down the rumors of a major tension and the possibility of a schism within the conservative party by noting that even if Mr. Meimarakis is elected ND leader, he will still be far better that PM Alexis Tsipras.