Next September, the presentation of the new IDs will take place at the International Exhibition of Thessaloniki, said Citizen Protection Minister Notis Mitarakis, giving at the same time their specifications, in an interview he gave this morning to Action 24.

As the minister said, the new identity cards will be in the form of a credit card, their cost will be 10 euros, as has been foreseen since 2018, and they will have an expiry date of 10 years.

He emphasized that there is no “geo-location” system in them, but they will be documents that will not be counterfeited and will strengthen the security of the citizen, as they will have special specifications for this purpose.

In his interview, Mr. Mitarakis also emphasized the need to find more police officers in an active role in the field, next to citizens and to get rid of bureaucratic procedures.

In this context, as the minister said, through the digital transformation it will be possible to relieve a large number of police officers from paperwork-related tasks and to be on the streets to achieve the goal of better policing, prevention and combating crime and especially small manifestations of this that concern the neighborhoods. In fact, he pointed out that this is one of the main goals he is setting for the next 12 months.

Mr. Mitarakis, responding to a related question, noted that discussions are being held with the Ministry of Justice in order to have stricter penalties for minor misdemeanors, which will contribute to the prevention of crime.

At the same time, the Minister of Citizen Protection, referring to the issues of guarding the universities, noted that the framework of the “University Police” is being reviewed and that the university institutions themselves should have a more active role in guarding them, as this is not the role of the Police , but to intervene in incidents of criminal acts.

Regarding child and adolescent delinquency, he emphasized that it is a problem that concerns the whole of society and that it cannot be solved by imprisonment except in extreme cases.

Referring to the incident with the death of a young man in Moschohori, during a pursuit, Mr. Mitarakis noted that an instruction has been given to retrain all police officers for cases of pursuit and involvement. As he said, this will be done with an already existing framework which was last revised in 2021 and will start immediately in all the General Directorates of the country.

Regarding immigration, Mr. Mitarakis emphasized that the Evros fence will be extended as it has already been decided, while the works will start in July.

Finally, he also answered about an incident that was revealed to the press, in which he, while he was with his entourage, was stopped by the Traffic Police for a breathalyzer test. As he said, the incident took place last Saturday, he was not driving himself, while everything went well during the check. In fact, as he said, he spoke with the police officers who were happy to see the political leadership discussing with them.