Kyriakos Mitsotakis: “My opponent is the problems of society, not Kasselakis” – Newsbomb – News

The prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, was hosted by SKAI TV station.

The prime minister’s agenda was… full of issues, among them the European elections, the economy and national issues. At the same time, Kyriakos Mitsotakis clarified that Greece will not send anti-aircraft weapons to Ukraine.

At the same time, Mr. Mitsotakis made it clear that his only opponent is the problems of Greek society and not Stefanos Kasselakis, stressing that his other opponent, Nikos Androulakis, “is out of place and time”.

See what the Prime Minister said:

About the episode in Parliament: “It was chilling and revealing. The temple of democracy cannot become a boxing arena. Let me congratulate the president of the Parliament for his reflexes. At the same time, it was revealing as it showed what is happening in the far-right apartment building, or arbitrarily better, this patchwork of parties that have entered the Parliament looks like. We have to ask ourselves who these parties represent.”

For the Spartans: “The Spartans were excluded from the proceedings by the Areopagus following a settlement promoted by New Democracy. I am of course also referring to SYRIZA. Fascism must be met with action and we were on the right side of history.”

For SYRIZA and far-right “channel”.: “SYRIZA had co-governed with the extreme right of Panos Kamenos. We are a bulwark of democracy against such parties. The threats from Mr. Velopoulos and the exhortations of those who made a parliamentary committee are unacceptable. They cannot use faith like that. Easter, the great celebration of Christianity, is approaching. These are days of love and solidarity.”

For Kyriakos Velopoulos: “I don’t want to say more. Citizens have memory and judgement, and we all saw what happened in Parliament. One comes to conclusions about what these parties express. There are many yalanji patriots, of fresh water. Patriotism is a difficult exercise.”

For the votes of the “Spartans”: “We faced them with actions, not words. Our answer was clearly given. We feel justified in the fact that this format is outside the European elections”.

For the rise of extreme parties: “There have always been parties to the right of ND and they did not get a negligible percentage. At the same time there is an overall tendency of the extreme right. This has to do with immigration. Our country is the only one that has faced this problem. We have minimized its flows, guarded our borders and changed the whole EU policy on this issue. The rapprochement with Turkey is done on our terms. We seek good relations with our neighbors. Voting for these parties is not a protest vote.”

About the Euroclauses and their importance for the government: “The next day the ND will be the government again. Other parties want to make the European elections a referendum. We’ll pick up the gauntlet. We have a task to show and a term ahead of us. But we do not stop talking about the importance of Europe. We want to succeed in Europe in the next 5 years. Our issue is how the New Democracy will be represented in Europe”.

Regarding the options of the European ballot: “We have very few celebrities. Each and every one of them can serve the interests of the country in the European Parliament. I would say that only the ND could make such a multi-collective ballot. The persons we have find a political reason. Let the people make their choice based on who will serve them the next day.”

For the desired percentage: “I want the best possible result. The European elections are a national ballot, but not a national election. The measure of comparison is the previous ones. We have a downside and a downside. The mobilization of the people is smaller but we can speak more clearly. Once our opponents recognize diversity, so will they. What interests me is to elect as many MEPs as possible. Competitiveness, defense and agricultural policy. These are our big goals and they are issues that concern the citizens of Europe.”

For the possibility of early elections: “I already hear all this but it is paradoxical that someone is asking for elections with 17%. This does not concern me. We will respect what the Greek people decide. If the result is not good, we will worry. We want the European elections to strengthen our impressive percentage in the national elections”.

On the issue of fan violence: “I find it difficult to comment on an open investigation. I would like to tell you that we have done many things regarding fan violence and have proven that we mean it. There are drops that overflow the glass. What I can say is that a very thorough investigation was done with secrecy, which is very unusual. I have confidence in the Justice that the guilty, moral and physical perpetrators will be punished. We have the political will and we made difficult decisions. We have reason to be optimistic that we will end the cancer of fan violence and its offshoots. There is no society without rules.”

Regarding the question of the murder in Agioi Anargyros: “I took it with great sadness and anger. It was a punch in the stomach. Everything went wrong. It was a tragedy. But it was an incident of great awakening. Now women can talk about what they experience. Something is changing in the memory of Sunday. Women must feel that if they turn to the state, there is a structure to protect them. Every such tragedy is an opportunity to learn.”

For the pressure experienced by Greek households and punctuality: “If there was a magic formula, we would have found it. Accuracy is a big problem. The results of our actions brought transparency. We have improvement. There are households that are tested. I will try to connect the big picture with each household’s notebook. Income is determined by how much money comes into a home and how much goes out. Wages are rising and taxes are falling because the economy is doing well. We want to support families. We have targeted options. Inflation is starting to subside. Prices are 30% higher than when they were three years ago. Competition is one answer. e-katanalotis is an important intervention. The supermarket is statistically 23% of a household’s expenditure. Competition works. If we didn’t have European support on covid we wouldn’t have coped. The pressure is constant, we will not stop the controls and if we judge that new measures will be needed, we will take them”.

About the Tempe crash and handling: “Going back in time, certainly a lot could have been done differently, especially in the matter of communication and the tolerance we showed to conspiracy theories, such as that it was a hoax. As far as I know and I know enough, everything will be decided by the Justice. Certainly, the conclusion of the inquiry committee is a composed text. Certainly the image that was created left a bad taste. I want to tell you that from the beginning of this process I pointed out the danger of it becoming a field for party counter-appeals. Justice will answer and I have complete confidence in it. What I can say is how we will make our trains safer. 450 million euros have been given. The remote control had been delivered. One should not speak without knowing. First I want Justice. Let’s end the conspiracy theories that were offensive on a personal level as well. So far, those asking for various things have not even submitted proposals. No one is sent to Justice without an indictment.”

For the comments of Nikos Androulakis against him: “Mr. Androulakis is out of place and time.”

On whether he has chosen an opponent: “My opponent is the problems of Greek society, not Kasselakis. The main opposition position is SYRIZA and what they will do in the center-left is their own business. Greece went through a crisis bigger than any other country. We’re making up for lost ground, but I can’t do miracles.”

About Stefanos Kasselakis: “It is good that there are no personal characterizations in politics. Look what they have said about me, I have heard infinitely worse things than I have said. We will all be judged in the elections of 2027. It would be good if he presented a rudimentary program. There is a lot of work for SYRIZA to do. What SYRIZA is doing is not a political proposal, don’t describe what it is.”

For the regions that have been taken over by the “blue executives”: “We have a lot of work and we are political officials. He has discounted the transformation so many times that at some point you will achieve it. I don’t have it in mind. These are elections that we must speak to our fellow citizens. Let’s put aside the small complaints and look at the big picture of what we can offer in Europe. We are all going together to fight our battle”.

For Samaras-Karamanlis and if he is close to him: “I feel them next to me and I can’t imagine that there is a ND leader who doesn’t want the best possible result for the party.”

On reports of a European position: “How many times do I have to say this? There is no issue. The greatest honor is to be the prime minister of the country. I couldn’t imagine how I would get here. I have signed a contract of trust with the Greek citizens. We are going to elections in 2027. Such talk is flattering for such an office. Right now we have three years of hard work ahead of us.”

On the question of arms in Ukraine: “Greece will not send Patriot or S-300 to Ukraine. We have explained the reasons we cannot dispose of weapons systems that are critical to our deterrence capability. We’ve been asked but we won’t ship.”

On the meeting with Erdogan: “I disagree with the support he provides to Hamas. From there, the meeting is a step further in the Greek-Turkish relationship. We have no violations, we have reduced migration flows. The issue of visa facilitation. All this creates a climate of peaceful coexistence. Obviously we will exercise our sovereign rights. Obviously we will disagree but that does not mean we will have a constructive dialogue. Turkey will not change and we know it.”