Apostolos Tzitzikostas

Apostolos Tzitzikostas is a Greek politician and senior public official with extensive experience in regional governance and European policymaking. Since 2024, he has served as European Commissioner for Transport and Tourism within the von der Leyen II Commission. Tzitzikostas holds a degree in Politics and Diplomacy from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and a Master's in Public Policy and Economics from University College London. Early in his career, he worked at the office of the Chair of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs. In 2001, he founded Macedonian Farm, a company specialising in organic dairy products, later integrated into the Mevgal group. His political career began in 2007 when he was elected to the Hellenic Parliament representing Nea Demokratia in Thessaloniki. In Parliament, he served as Secretary and as a member of key committees on national defence, foreign affairs, financial affairs, and European integration. He also represented Greece in the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly. In 2010, he was elected Deputy Governor of Central Macedonia and subsequently served as Governor of Central Macedonia from 2013 to 2024, winning three consecutive regional elections with strong public support. In 2019, he was elected President of the Association of Greek Regions and was unanimously re-elected in 2024 — a first in the organisation’s history. At the European level, Tzitzikostas has been actively engaged in the European Committee of the Regions since 2015. He served as its President from 2020 to 2022 and was elected First Vice-President in 2022. In 2024, he was nominated by the Greek government to join the European Commission, where he now leads the EU’s efforts in the fields of transport and tourism.