Mitsotakis on CNN: Self test for everyone – We do not intend to do a lockdown

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Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed optimism for the next day of the Greek economy in the shadow of the pandemic in an interview with CNN and Christian Amanpour.

Speaking about the mandatory vaccination, the Prime Minister stressed that it seems to be paying off lately. “We are doing what is necessary to achieve an increase in vaccinations,” he said.

However, he described the Omicron mutation as an unknown factor.

He pointed out, however, that the Greek economy is growing and we will not proceed with any lockdown.

“This week we start universal testing for the entire population, every Greek citizen will have the right to a self test, we will do the same immediately after the New Year, to make sure we identify asymptomatic patients. It’s the only way to keep our economy open. We do not intend to lockdown. The Greek economy will grow significantly this year, the statistics for the third quarter were published today, more than 11% GDP growth, tourism did very well. “If we want our economy to remain open and functional and to produce wealth for all citizens, we must be vaccinated and we must make sure that we follow the basic precautions, take tests and wear a mask.”

Kyriakos Mitsotakis also spoke about a pandemic of unvaccinated people and stressed that these numbers are similar to those in Europe.

“According to our Constitution, we must take progressive measures and of course compulsory vaccination is the absolute measure we can take. We have already imposed compulsory vaccination on health professionals and now we are extending it to those over 60 years old. We are just the second European country to implement it and I would not be surprised if other European countries followed our example. The President of the Commission said that compulsory vaccination should be discussed. I am a liberal politician, I do not like mandatory measures, but we had no other choice and I am convinced that we made the right choice. We are also doing our best to promote a repeat dose. “

Regarding the criticism of Alexis Tsipras and the lockdown, the Prime Minister said:

“We have very limited demonstrations and that is a very good sign. We also imposed strict measures on the unvaccinated. We were one of the first European countries to make it clear that if you want to go to a restaurant, or a movie theater, you have to be vaccinated, a negative test is not enough. Unfortunately, we did not have as much political consensus as in other countries. “The opposition has chosen to turn the issue of the pandemic into a political one. I think they are making a big mistake because we have the same problems as any other country in the world.”

As he stressed once again, he does not intend to announce a universal lockdown, while he also spoke about the free self tests that are given from today.

Regarding immigration, Mr. Mitsotakis said that “we are a country that is on the edge of Europe. We are very glad that Pope Francis visited us for the second time. “We do not have much progress in European solidarity.”

He also spoke about injustices regarding the “burdens” that each European country lifts in this area.

Finally, regarding the instrumentalization of the refugee by Turkey, the Prime Minister criticized her attitude and stressed that there must be rules and clarified that what happened in 2015, when Greece “opened” its borders to everyone, is not a appropriate solution.

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