Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in an interview with Giannis Pretenteris and Rania Tzima of the Mega TV station, stated categorically that the economy and society will not close again. “Now that we have the vaccine, we are not going to go lockdown. I am adamant for the simple reason that at the moment three out of four have done the right thing and it would be unfair to impose restrictions at a huge cost to tackle a minority problem today . “No European country follows this tactic,” he said.
According to him, the pandemic has not escaped and this outbreak that has been recorded lately primarily concerns the unvaccinated. According to Mr. Mitsotakis, the framework of the new measures emphasizes the increase of vaccinations and the correct communication about the importance of the third dose. “We have difficult conditions, especially in Northern Greece, in those areas that have lower vaccination rates. “So our obligation is to strengthen the Health System constantly, of course until we reach the ceiling of our capabilities,” said the Prime Minister, adding that “every day 5,000, 6,000, 7,000, 8,000 fellow citizens – is not a negligible number, although it is not that we would like- take the step and choose to overcome their phobias and inhibitions and get vaccinated. Today we are talking about people taking the first dose . This is a dynamic process. “
Responding to criticism received from the official opposition for the entry of citizens into churches, the prime minister stressed: “We must understand that churches are open places of worship. Perhaps Mr. Tsipras has never felt the need to enter a church, to light a candle. There is no one at the door to check if he wants to do it. Well, beyond that if there was a way to implement this measure we would discuss it. But the issue here is not just the churches. It is the politicization of the issue of the pandemic and an identity game for wild votes, which unfortunately the opposition still continues to do today “, while he reminded that the government closed the churches last year and in 2020 we did not celebrate Easter.
“Our Intensive Care Units are full of unvaccinated”
Speaking about the obligation of vaccinations, he stated that he has exhausted its limits, noting that “no other country has gone to expanded obligations because from one point onwards we are hitting a wall of reaction” and noted that the government's policy is to convince at least half from the unvaccinated to take the step. “The virus is circulating, it primarily strikes the unvaccinated. A person of a certain age is 30 times more likely to die from coronavirus if he or she is unvaccinated than if this happened to a vaccinated person.
Our Intensive Care Units today are full of unvaccinated. Young people without underlying diseases die because they are not vaccinated. A pregnant woman gave birth to her child and died unvaccinated. “So I wonder how many more arguments we have to use to convince these people that they are really in danger of this,” he said. At the same time, he stressed that we should not measure the cases with 400,000 tests per day but the positivity and the pressure in the health system.
“At the moment we still have resilience in the health system and I am sure that we will overcome it with this wave because all the waves reach their peak at some point”, underlined Kyriakos Mitsotakis while estimating that the measures taken by the government are absolutely enough.
Regarding SYRIZA's proposal for the creation of a public acceptance committee, he wondered: “Should we ask for party certificates from scientists? We talk to the best scientists in our country and abroad. They do not always agree with each other but end up in one position “.
The goal is the two increases of the minimum wage in 2022
Speaking about the economy, the Prime Minister stated that there will be a first increase of the minimum wage of 2% from 1.1.2022 and that he is determined for a second increase in 2022 after taking into account the real data of the economy and the resilience of businesses.
Regarding the wave of price increases, Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated that it is a global phenomenon and that inflation is expected to de-escalate from the beginning of 2022. As he said, the government has spent and will spend more than 500 million euros to keep electricity prices and added that without government intervention the bills would go up tenfold.
Referring to climate change and the Glasgow International Conference, the Prime Minister said that these conferences are the only opportunity for all countries to come together and enter into binding conditions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
As for the government's plan for de-ligation, he stated that “we are not going to make a 'Green Transition' on the backs of the citizens” and that especially in Western Macedonia “we will create more and better jobs immediately”.
“We did not always agree with Angela Merkel in Greek-Turkish”
Answering a question about whether we will see French frigates and fighters in the event that the Oruc Reis appears again below Crete, Mr. Mitsotakis stressed that “the agreement we signed with France is clear – the mutual assistance clause stipulates that France has obligation to assist us in case Turkey attacks us “. Also speaking about the extension of the defense agreement with the USA for 5 years, he stated that “Greece is shielded even more in terms of agreements”.
Speaking about Greek-Turkish and Angela Merkel's position, she noted: “We did not always agree with Chancellor Merkel on Greek-Turkish. The truth is that I had pushed her a lot to be more, to say, strict with Turkey. On the other hand, I can understand that if she wanted to play the role of the third ombudsman, she probably had to be neutral in her mind. There is only one difference here: Germany is a member of the European Union and a member of NATO. “Consequently, I can not accept the concept of neutrality from any European country.”
Regarding the developments in Northern Macedonia and the Prespa agreement, the prime minister stated that “the agreements concern states and not governments”. He also said that he never fooled anyone and that he had said that from the moment the agreement is ratified he will implement it. For the time that will come the memoranda that are pending ratification in the Parliament, he answered “we will judge the appropriate time”.
“Our job is to make the Police better”
The Prime Minister also received a question about the attitude of the Police. “Sometimes, I think, we have a matter of mentality. Because at some point we have to decide who we are with. “Are we with the housewife or are we with the burglar?” Can the Police do their job better? Obviously. Look at the announcements of the Minister, I believe that they are all moving in the absolutely right direction “while he admitted that there is significant room for improvement in the efficiency of EL.AS. “Our job is this Police which we have to make better. I put a lot of emphasis on police training. The police are “children next door”, the prime minister underlined.
“Elections at the end of four years”
Answering a question on the issue of elections, Mr. Mitsotakis stated that the elections will be held at the end of four years and stressed that “New Democracy will claim autonomy in the first ballot box, and with the simple proportional” while he added: dilemmas that will be posed will be very clear: we will have four years of governing the New Democracy with an autonomous government. Four years ago, they mediated with Mr. Tsipras, who ruled as he ruled and was judged by the Greek people. “Citizens will choose stability and development or insecurity and adventure.”
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Costas Karamanlis is positive for the coronavirus
Greece – coronavirus: 6,150 new cases, 49 deaths, 431 intubated
Greece: Two tests per week for unvaccinated workers – Unvaccinated in public services with a negative test
