2024-02-20 15:11:14
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis received warm applause during his address in the context of the 60th Munich Conference “as the man who put the finances of Greece in order and he deserves congratulations as well, “because the marriage of same-sex couples in Greece has just been voted”. I’m here with a few hours of sleep, but I think it’s a landmark decision and I’m proud because I introduced the bill as head of the center-right, said Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
We are facing geopolitical challenges that other European states are not facing after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Prime Minister emphasized in his introduction.
You have a much better fiscal position and spend more than 3.5% on defense. How do you do it, what is the secret, the prime minister was asked and he replied:
“Greece never had a peace dividend, we constantly faced geopolitical threats in our neighborhood and always, even in bad times, spent more than 2% of GDP on defense. In our case we had to increase spending because we are facing challenges unlike other states. We all need to spend more on defense but be smarter about resource allocation in an era of high interest rates, pressure on budgets and extra spending after the pandemic.”
“Greece has managed to achieve all medium-term objectives. We are reducing debt because the economy is going faster than the eurozone average. Challenge is to do more in defence. Development has led us to do more both in defense and overall,” added the prime minister and pointed out:
“European defense means prioritizing the European defense industry which is now fragmented. For example, for the purchase of a frigate, we receive five or six different offers, and this makes no sense. On fiscal rules, we agreed that defense spending would not count in the budget. Defense due to its vital nature is something special”, the prime minister said, among other things.
The open debate had the theme “Currency for Change: World Politics on a Budget” in the context of the Munich Conference.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, US Vice President Kamala Harris, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelesny, Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Staiyeh are among the top officials attending the Munich Security Conference (MSC), a annual global gathering focused on defense and diplomacy that runs until Sunday in the southern German city.
Source ERT