2024-04-30 01:28:06
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis put the weight of the result of New Democracy in the upcoming European elections in a full interview with SKAI. “The measure of comparison is the previous European elections”, he emphasized, describing his party’s European ballot paper as “multi-collective”.
“What interests me is to elect as many MEPs as possible”, he said, while in case of a negative result, he emphasized that “I already hear the requests for early elections, but it is paradoxical that someone asks for early elections, when he has a majority of 17% but this is not about me. We want the best result.”
Speaking about the importance of the ballot box, he said that “the parties want to reduce it to a referendum against the government. We will pick up the gauntlet. We will say yes, the political message that will be broadcast from the ballot box on June 9 must exude stability, confidence and continuity.”
Asked about it, he said that on the ND ballot. there are few celebrities. “And those who are, have a proven track record and I think they can represent the country’s interests in the European Parliament.”
“The goal in the European elections is to elect as many MEPs as possible from the ND, because the arithmetic the next day is important, as a broad alliance of measure and logic must be formed in the European Parliament in order to promote major changes in Europe : competitiveness, defense, agricultural issues”, he underlined.
“Matching of Parties”
Mr. Mitsotakis described the incident of violence that happened in the Parliament as “chilling and revealing”.
“Creepy because the temple of the Republic cannot be turned into a boxing arena,” he said and congratulated the speaker of the Parliament for his very quick reaction, which proved that parliamentarianism has the institutional counterweights to deal with extreme behavior.
“It was at the same time extremely revealing about what is happening in this space of the far-right apartment building, God forbid it is an apartment building. This jumble of parties seems rather arbitrary, built with lies and violence”, he added.
He emphasized that “everyone should think very carefully if we really want parties that advocate brutal violence and an intolerant racist discourse that emits division and hatred to be represented in parliament.”
Regarding the Spartans, he stated that “they were removed from the process by the Supreme Court after a regulation promoted by the New Democracy. I am of course also referring to SYRIZA. SYRIZA, let’s not forget, had governed with the extreme right of Mr. Kammenos. Fascism must be met with action and we were on the right side of history.”
He described as “unacceptable and divisive” the statements of the president of the Hellenic Solution, Kyriakos Velopoulos, regarding the visits of politicians to the holy temples, ahead of Easter.
Called to comment on the murder of Kyriaki Griva, outside the A.T. of Saints Anargyro, said it caused him sadness and anger, as “it was a punch in the stomach. Everything went wrong, it was a tragedy, but it was also a wake-up call.”
“The cancer of fan violence”
Asked to comment on the issue of fan violence, he said that “many things have been done and we have proven that we mean what we say. A very thorough investigation was conducted with absolute confidentiality, which is unusual for the Greek context. I have complete confidence in the Justice that the guilty will be punished. We proved that we have the political will, we took difficult decisions, such as the closing of the stadiums, the automated ticket. For the first time we have reason to be modestly optimistic that we will end the cancer of fan violence and its offshoots. There is no society without rules.”
“Accuracy is a very big problem”
The prime minister acknowledged again that accuracy is a very big problem. “I know there are households that are being tested and the macros don’t apply to them.” He emphasized that the government policy shows results and a certain improvement in terms of transparency and price control.
“If there was a magic formula against punctuality some other country would have found it. Wages are rising because the economy is doing well, taxes have come down significantly. There is emergency aid and our focus is always on the most vulnerable, the welfare state is present,” he pointed out.
And he estimated that “the better the economy goes, the more wages will increase. There are signs that inflation is easing. Competition is one answer. It worked on the electricity bills. Energy prices are lower because competition worked, but also because we supported households.”
He pledged that the government will not stop market controls, recalling that fines have been imposed even on large multinational companies.
“Mr. Androulakis is out of place and time”
Asked to comment on the report on the “Mitsotakis regime” of the president of PASOK, he replied: “Mr. Androulakis is out of place and out of time. I am sorry to say it so absolutely in this matter, because on the occasion of a specific incident, for which answers have been given, it discredits the country abroad”.
And he added: “At this moment, this attempt that is being made – and we saw this instrumentalization in the European Parliament as well and we responded point by point to all the accusations – to present Greece as a semi-authoritarian country, is really offensive. And it reached the point of leading some to claim that “European funds should also be cut”. I will say again: one is the judge, based on the treaties of the European Union. This is the European Commission. So why is the European Commission giving us credit for making progress and others still claiming we are going in the opposite direction? And at the end of the day, especially in the issues of freedom of the press, there really is a Greek who listens to us today who does not believe that in Greece everyone can say what they want, where they want and that there is a possibility of free expression without anyone restriction; Rather the reverse problem occurs. And indeed, from this point of view, it is logical that the conditions should be strict so that someone can ask for his right if he is a political figure and feels that he has been slandered”.
Regarding the Tempe crash: “In retrospect, some things could have been done differently, especially in the field of communication, as we allowed conspiracy theories to spread. What I know is that there is no collusion, but that’s what the Court will say.” He characterized the conclusion of the majority in the Investigative Committee as composed: “Certainly the image that was created left the citizens with a bad taste. From the beginning of this process I had pointed out the danger of partisan disputes. First I want Justice to be served. I want it for one more additional reason, in order to put an end to the incredible conspiracy theories, which are offensive and what they do is break the relationships of trust in politics.”
Regarding the economic program of SYRIZA, he noted that “they cannot easily say that I will zero the VAT on basic food without saying how the budget will be balanced. So far, what we see from SYRIZA does not point to a composed political proposal. All this will be decided in the national elections in 2027 and by then SYRIZA and PASOK will have time to present a rudimentary program”.
Asked about a possible reshuffle, he said: “You’ve discounted him so many times that at some point you’re going to get him, it’s not in my mind right now. Now we have an election. We have to tell the citizens that now is not the time for complaints and in this effort the party is going steadily. Let’s go fight after Easter.”
“There is no question of my moving to a European position”
“For me, there is absolutely no issue”, answered Mr. Mitsotakis when asked if there is on the horizon the possibility of his moving to a European position.
“I have to tell you that when I started my career I couldn’t necessarily imagine that I would get to this point. I have signed a contract of trust with the Greek citizens. They honored me with a large percentage, they honored me for four years. We will complete our work and go to national elections in 2027, once again putting the work we have done to the judgment of the citizens. This discussion about a European position may be to a certain extent flattering and honorable – the name of a Greek prime minister is not often heard for such important positions – but it does not concern me at all”.
“We are not sending S-300 or Patriot”
“Greece is not going to send Ukraine either S-300 or Patriot,” he answered categorically, although as he explained this was requested by our country. “Greece has supported Ukraine in various ways, with defense material. However, we have said from the first moment that we cannot dispose of weapons systems which are critical for our deterrent capability. We have surplus material with which we can support Ukraine, we have done so and I think it is the right choice. And, to the extent that we can find such material, we will continue to do so. However, the air defense systems you mentioned are critical systems for the protection of Greek airspace and will not be granted to Ukraine.”
“We will declare marine parks”: He insisted we will declare marine parks, as “it doesn’t mean that because our differences with Turkey are there, we can’t talk to each other.”