Mitsotakis: We have steered the boat of the homeland safely and Greece is much better today

“We support society in difficult times, we stand close to the productive and developmental forces of the place” underlined the prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, during his visit to the prefecture of Pella and in the successive meetings he had in Edessa with the bodies of the self-government and with members and friends of the ND.

“The ND always fights for the advancement and the good of all Greek women and all Greeks, and the government has the fiscal capabilities to continue supporting society, businesses, farmers, workers, households and the most vulnerable, within the global energy and inflationary crisis, because the economy is “overperforming” and the country has one of the highest growth rates in Europe”, said Kyriakos Mitsotakis, speaking at a gathering of members and friends of his party, at noon, at the Edessa Waterfalls.

“We are now entering the fourth year of the government and I believe that all Greek citizens have realized that despite the very big crises that have come our way, we have steered the boat of our country, safely, in very stormy waters and Greece today is in a very better situation than it was in 2019, when we got down to business” said Mr. Mitsotakis and continued:

“And I want to assure you that in this struggle, we support society in difficult times, we stand close to the productive and developmental forces of the place, to our farmers, who play such an important role in the local economy, to our entrepreneurs, to the workers, we will continue this great effort”.

The prime minister referred to the “unspeakable tragedy” of the war and the loss of human life in Ukraine, but also to the consequences of the war, the global energy crisis and the inflationary crisis, which, he said, “has forced us all to redeploy our forces and to shifting our priorities to supporting society in the face of the great difficulties we face” and added:

“But friends, we are able to support society, households and businesses, precisely because our economy is overperforming, because we have one of the highest growth rates in all of Europe, because we have the fiscal capacity to support households and businesses on electricity bills, to be able to support our most vulnerable fellow citizens at Christmas who need it most with another extraordinary allowance and of course from 2023 to proceed with the first increases in pensions in many years and the abolition of the solidarity levy for all our fellow citizens, pensioners, civil servants, so that in this way we can support the disposable income of all Greeks who are being tested in the midst of this unprecedented crisis”.

The prime minister emphasized that the “confidence” he sees in the faces of the members and friends of the ND “reflects the opinion of the majority of Greeks about the governance of the ND”. He recalled the “truth agreement” with the citizens that he had requested before the elections, underlining that “the citizens recognize that, despite the difficulties, we were consistent with our pre-election commitments” and continued:

“We said we would cut taxes, we cut them. We said we would create jobs, we created them. We said that we would strengthen Greece’s position in the region and in Europe, and today Greece is strong and not threatened by anyone. Because we have strengthened our defense and shielded our alliances and guided by International Law we are marching in the troubled region of the Eastern Mediterranean” said Mr. Mitsotakis and continued:

“It is precisely this relationship of trust that I am not going to allow anyone to question. And when the time comes, in 2023 at the end of our term and we once again put the crucial decision on who will govern the country for the next four years to the judgment of the Greek people, I have absolutely no doubt that the Greek citizens will give us a second chance to continue and complete our work and they will not allow any turning back, any return to a past, which we all want, irreversibly, to forget”.

Mr. Mitsotakis thanked the old and new supporters of his party, pointing out that “ND is something bigger than it was in the past, it is a faction that unites, it is not a faction that divides” and that “it represents the popular, social base our country”. He added that the ND is a faction that “always fights for the good and the advancement of all Greek women and all Greek men, regardless of the political choices they make” and added:

“I will continue to serve this policy and I am sure that with our own strength and your support we will be able to continue our work even after the 2023 elections.”

Mr. Mitsotakis reminded that the last pre-election rally of the National Democratic Party was held in Giannitsa, while he pledged that he would visit Pella again before the next elections, saying: “Pella brought us good luck, it will bring us luck in the next elections as well”.

The two major infrastructure projects in Pella will be done with certainty

“The two major projects, which will shape the future of Pella for the coming decades, the road, the Edessa-Thessaloniki road connection and the Almopaion dam will be done with certainty,” said the prime minister, speaking to the party’s executives and friends.

Earlier, he had assured of this to the self-government bodies of the region, in a meeting that preceded the Governor’s Office.

The prime minister pointed out that in total the financial resources directed to the prefecture of Pella, from the Recovery Fund, from the NSRF, from the “Antonis Tritsis” program, from “Philodimos II” exceed one hundred million euros, excluding the aforementioned major infrastructure projects

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Mr. Mitsotakis underlined that the prefecture of Pella is a “protagonist” in the primary sector” and has benefited from the policies of the government through the programs of the Ministry of Rural Development, noting that some outstanding issues will also be dealt with, within the possibilities of the ministry and ELGA . He underlined that “ELGA compensations are paid much faster than in the past” and that already in Pella, which suffered losses last year in crops, “total 2021 compensations were paid at the end of March 2022, earlier than any other moment in the past”.

Mr. Mitsotakis pointed out that the Almopaion dam, with a capacity of 35.5 million cubic meters to irrigate 120,440 acres, the second largest irrigation project in the country “is now ready, in order to start all the tendering procedures”. He noted that these are essentially two separate projects, the first, the reservoir, which will be auctioned in the coming months and financed by funds from the Rural Development program and second, the irrigation network, amounting to 118 million euros, which will cover all municipalities and be done with PPP, for twenty, twenty one years and its maintenance will be covered during this period. At the same time, 19 small irrigation projects worth 3.5 million euros are being completed.

Regarding the horizontal road connection between Edessa and Thessaloniki he emphasized that by the third quarter of 2023 a contractor will have emerged to start the project. The project was put up for auction last August and the deadline for submitting bids is October 31st.

The prime minister stated that it is a project “very important for Pella and with a development sign”, as it will also contribute to the easier movement of goods and goods of the primary sector and added: “It is one of the commitments we made to make sure that there will not be any Regional Unit of the country that will be in isolation and we are now sure that this project will be able to be launched with secured financial resources”.

Mr. Mitsotakis also referred to other issues, such as the utilization of sports facilities in the cities and the perspective of the “prefecture as a pole of attraction for tourism 12 months a year”, due to both the rich cultural heritage and the unique nature of the area.

“I really believe in winter tourism. We want to make it possible – and this is something we want to initiate in ETAD – to be able to grant ski resorts through multi-year contracts, so that the relevant investments can be made” said Mr. Mitsotakis and added: “Sure, Loutra Pozar in themselves it is a destination that needs more exploitation and we can certainly improve the connection as such with the mountain”.

He also noted the inclusion of the Almopia Castle in the Recovery Fund, with almost 2 million euros, and expressed his satisfaction for his visit to the Museum and for the progress of the works at the archaeological site of Pella, saying:

“It has huge potential to attract even more visitors, so that the greatness of the Macedonian Culture can really be shown in its entirety and with all the destinations, which can give the visitor an overall picture of what happened in this place 2,300-2,400 years ago”

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The prime minister mentioned the positive effects of the program “A. Tritsis” and “Philodimos II” for the local communities, noted that in the next period the integration of the water supply network of Edessa, as well as the music school in Giannitsa, and if there is study maturity for a special kindergarten in Skydra will be sought.

Mr. Mitsotakis spoke about the need for municipalities to utilize the “schooling” public property at a local level, such as former camps, lands, etc. “We must prioritize requests, overcome bureaucratic problems, think intelligently about how we can utilize public property,” the prime minister told the local government bodies.

The meeting was attended by the Minister of Rural Development and Food Giorgos Georgantas, the Deputy Minister of the Interior responsible for Self-Government Matters Stelios Petsas, the General Secretary of Union Resources and Infrastructure of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food Dimitris Papagiannidis, the President of ELGA Andreas Lykourentzos, the Deputy Regional Governor for HE of Pella Iordanis Tzamtzis, the Mayor of Edessa Dimitris Giannou, the Mayor of Almopia Christos Batsis, the Mayor of Skydra Katerina Ignatiadou, the Mayor of Pella Grigoris Stamkos, the MPs of Pella of the New Republic Giorgos Karasmanis, Dionysis Stamenitis and Lakis Vassiliadis, the Director of the Office of the Prime Minister in Thessaloniki Maria Antoniou, the Secretary of the Political Committee of the ND Pavlos Marinakis, and the Director of the Office of the President of the ND and Secretary of Organization Stelios Kontadakis.

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