«This government prides itself, I believe rightly, on being consistent in its promises and whenever we encounter difficulties and delays for whatever reason, we have the courage to acknowledge them and seek to correct them.».
This was stressed among others by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, speaking about the development plan announced for Patras, Achaia and Western Greece, during a press conference he gave to representatives of regional media in a central hotel in the city.
As he added, «we have presented in detail our development vision, which is a coherent and costed plan that includes more than 80 projects, such as large infrastructure projects with a strong developmental emphasis, but with a great social dimension». All in all, as he pointed out, «they constitute our plan for a Patras that deserves to be the western gateway of our country to Europe».
He also noted that «the plan that we presented today is well thought out and costed, which is why I believe that we have earned the trust of the citizens in terms of our credibility at least, and I am not only referring to the citizens who support the Southwest but to all, the bona fide citizens.».
At the same time, he stressed that «I firmly believe that the coming years will be years of very dynamic development for Western Greece and especially for the city of Patras, with the protagonists being the citizens themselves who have been asking for decades for such a plan».
Responding to a question about the elections, Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that the country is bound by an electoral law, the simple proportional representation, which has too many disadvantages that creates substantial problems of governability and mines political stability. At the same time, he said that »I do not see two elections but I am thinking of national elections whenever they are held at the end of the four-year term, without having decided what the exact date will be.«.
He also said that «it is too early to discuss what will happen after the possible second elections, although I have not hidden the fact that the goal of the Southwest is to have self-reliance after the second elections and this goal is achievable».
Indeed, he added, «my commitment to complete my four-year term is still valid». On this point, he mainly accused the official opposition of «resorting to toxicity in alleged scandals in a ‘yellow’ political debate, where SYRIZA knows how to do it very well.»
Regarding the auctions of first homes, the Prime Minister said: «It is extremely unpleasant for a person to lose their home at auction. I believe that every such case must be treated with respect and sensitivity. However, the government's policy on the issue of red loans and auctions offers a great many opportunities for citizens to save their property. Tens of thousands of citizens have made arrangements to protect their assets, especially their main home. Auctions remain a small exception. Most citizens are rushing in, regulating and paying and, to the extent possible, they are punctual. And that is something that we need to recognise.».
He then accused the president of SYRIZA of hypocrisy, adding that «it was the prime minister who enacted and favoured the red loan buyout companies and under his leadership there were 30,000 auctions, while at that time I did not see him running and showing great interest in the people who were losing their homes».
He also stressed that «indeed we are now facing an issue with the increase in borrowing costs, so I have asked the Ministry of Finance to exhaust all possibilities for consistent borrowers, to see what we can do about this issue, in consultation with the banks.».
On Greek-Turkish relations, Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that «we are in a geopolitical neighbourhood with a Turkey, our eastern neighbour, unpredictable, quarrelsome, often aggressive», adding:
«From the first moment I took over the responsibility of governing the country, I made our strategy towards Turkey clear. We want an honest dialogue with Turkey, with whom we are geographically doomed to be neighbours, but we want a dialogue on the one essential issue that has been at the root of our fundamental differences for many decades, which is the delimitation of maritime zones in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean. And in no way are we prepared to engage in a dialogue with the irrational. No Greek Prime Minister will ever discuss issues of sovereignty of the Greek islands.
Nor are we obviously going to get anyone's permission for the arms program that the country is pursuing, which is arming our country but is not an arms program at the expense of someone else. It is our obligation to strengthen our national defence and to improve to the maximum the deterrent capability of the Greek armed forces. Greece is not a revisionist power. It is a force for stability and peace and cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Whether Mr Erdogan will change is not for me to judge. Much of what we hear from Turkey today and from its leadership, I believe, is part of a prolonged electoral climate that is being maintained in Turkey. But behind this there is also a structural Turkish revisionism, which must be answered in a decisive and substantial way. I am always open - I will say it again, I have said it many times - to any meeting with the Turkish leadership. And I appreciate that despite what is said, it may be said provisionally, we will meet again with President Erdogan at some point. I don't know when and under what circumstances that will happen. One thing is certain, we will enter these discussions without making any discount whatsoever to our national positions.».
Regarding the exploration for hydrocarbons, the Prime Minister said that «in our days, for the first time, serious seismic surveys are being carried out to determine whether there are indeed serious natural gas reserves». He added that «these surveys are becoming very important now, when Europe is ardently seeking to decouple from Russian gas, which is why there is enormous geopolitical interest.» «It is very important what is being done for the country,» he continued, adding that «the first indications are extremely encouraging.».
H. Canistras
