Earlier today, the prime minister gave a different interview to the radio station Radio Zygos of Trikala. The prime minister intervened in the broadcast, surprising the two journalists, who, however, did not miss the opportunity to ask him… everything. See what he was asked and what he answered about self-government, elections, the football league, but also nutrition and the discipline required from an age onwards:

Journalist: The Prime Minister’s tour of the 110th Fighter Wing must have been completed and shortly he will board the car to go to Platykampos. If, if I say, if, someone over there would turn on Radio Zygos to hear us say good morning from beautiful Trikala.

Journalist: Since I will be there in a short time to watch closely all the events and relay to the station exactly what is happening, I will also make a record of the people who will go to neighboring Larissa from Trikala.

Journalist: Yes, this is true, yes, we have a very, very large participation of trikalins, there has also been a mobilization, phones are also ringing and various things are happening.

Journalist: Because it’s not just the national elections, it’s also the municipal elections.

Journalist: We have a line on the phone, yes good morning?

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Good morning.

Journalist: Good morning.

Journalist: This is a familiar voice, good morning.

Journalist: Are you the Prime Minister?

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: What do you say? Let your listeners draw their own conclusions.

Journalist: Mr. President, great honor, thank you very much. And you know, a while ago I said, if by chance he hears us in neighboring Larissa…

Journalist: Yes, because we sound in Larissa.

Journalist: …I tell someone to tell him to call us to say good morning.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: I have this habit, whenever I’m touring, of always listening to local stations and sometimes jamming.

Journalist: It is very honorable for the radios of the province to have the Prime Minister of the country come out, it is very honorable, believe me.

Journalist: This is a fact.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Be well. You are doing an important job and as long as we can support it we will.

Journalist: Mr. President, the program of your visit has started and we know more or less where you will go, you will go to Platykambos now and so on. How’s the match going?

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: The fight continues unabated. As I have said many times we will have an election at some point in the spring, so we have basically entered the final stretch. I was consistent in my commitment that we would exhaust the four-year period and that is what we did, but as we are getting closer to the elections it is an opportunity again to go around the whole of Greece.

Of course I didn’t wait for the elections to do it, you know very well that I have come to your area many times.

Journalist: Yes.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: But now is an opportunity to summarize the work we have done.

Journalist: “sometime” is April 9th?

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: I cannot tell you this yet, as the Constitution has very clear provisions on the manner in which elections are called, even if they are premature by two or three months. So you will learn these in time. But I have said that the elections will be held in the spring.

Journalist: Nice, we are in Trikala, in the hometown of Tsitsanis, Kaldaras, Mitropanos. Will you visit her sometime?

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: I will visit her. I will definitely be in Trikala during the pre-election period. I understand that you also have a very nice digital Tsitsani Museum, which I want to come visit. And of course, today we will have the opportunity in Larissa to talk about our development vision for Thessaly. We will also say many things about Trikala. But I will have the opportunity to specialize them when I come to your beautiful city, which I love very much.

Journalist: And from what we know you will also be coming to Vasiliki tomorrow to see the E65 construction site? Does this apply?

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Tomorrow we will come to see the E65 construction site. I remind you that this road is financed entirely from the resources of the Recovery Fund. It was a priority of mine, personally, when I won the election. After very tough negotiations with the European Union we succeeded and got the relevant approvals.

As you know the road is being built, it will be ready in ’25. And it is a very important road for the whole of Thessaly but also for Western Macedonia, as Trikala and Grevena will now be joined by a road which will be both fast and above all safe.

Journalist: Mr. President, I am your fanatical supporter, I believe in you personally, I am not New Democracy.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: That’s what I want to hear.

Journalist: Well, I believe in you, in your personality, as Prime Minister etc. I want to ask you a personal question. Are you emaciated or don’t eat, don’t have time to eat?

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: I try to maintain myself, I really like good food. But I must be restrained.

Journalist: You are also an athletic type.

Journalist: He’s also an athletic guy, though.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Whenever I can, I also try to do sports. But it is necessary, you know – and we all know – that to maintain one’s weight from a certain age requires discipline.

Journalist: Right, right.

Journalist: And since there was a sports question, let’s also ask a question because we are, the show is a bit light, etc. Question: tomorrow how do you see the Olympiacos-Panathinaikos derby? Will you see it in the first place or will you miss it?

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: I hope to see it, I hope I have finished my tour. I’ll be in Grevena tomorrow, but I imagine we’ll be done sometime in the afternoon. So I, as a football fan, will make sure to enjoy the match. I have not hidden my preferences regarding the team I support.

Journalist: You are an Olympian, aren’t you? You are an Olympian.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: I am an Olympiacos, but above all what I want to emphasize is that this year we have a competitive championship, that is good. It’s good for football as a whole.

Journalist: That’s a given, yes.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Important steps have also been taken in consolidating football, I think in terms of quality and refereeing, and they can also be done with VAR. Things are definitely better now than they were some years ago. And of course we have other steps to take in order to upgrade our football product.

Journalist: So you will see the match with pro-Olympic feelings, but okay, let the best man win.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: I will see it first of all as a football friend.

Journalist: Yes, yes.

Journalist: Mr. President, are you preparing any surprise today in the announcements you will make at noon for the Buyer? You know after you our worship is the Buyer. He’s our man.

Journalist: Agorastos and Christos Michalakis in Trikala.

Journalist:…who is doing a very big fight for the region.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: First of all, what I can tell you is that Kostas and I have known each other since 2004, when we were colleagues in the Parliament. I am particularly happy about his progress in Local Government, in the Region. He is an extremely successful Regional Governor and will obviously have our support in the next regional elections as well. I think that his work is recognized by many of your fellow citizens and of course I must emphasize that the support provided by the Region and with state funds during all the natural disasters.

I want to remind you of what happened in your area after “Janos”, how difficult things were, but I think everyone will recognize that the most important steps forward were made both in reparations, but also in the major infrastructure projects that were built after the major “Janus” disasters. And a special conversation about your Deputy Governor.

Journalist: Christos Michalakis.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: He is also excellent and does a great job for Trikala.

Journalist: Of course he wanted to become an MP, but he won’t be now. But he is a child…

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Don’t tell me now… They are separate paths, those who serve the Self-Government are one, the Self-Government is another path, another path…

Journalist: Michalakis is a special and dear friend. He does a very good job. You can’t imagine how good a job he is doing here.

Journalist: Excellent.

Journalist: And we honor him and support him. Mr. President, in addition to the specialized issues, today you also have the big gathering at 19:00 at the “Alcazar”, where we learn that it will take on a Panthessal character. In other words, people will come to see you from all over Thessaly.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Look, when we have a big gathering I know that it is logical that friends of the party come not only from Larissa, but also from all over Thessaly. This is the nature of these gatherings.

As you can imagine, we are slowly getting into an election climate. What makes me especially happy is that all the gatherings we do from the small gatherings – now I’m heading to Platykambos – where I go to a coffee shop and have a couple of conversations with friends to the big gatherings, we have a lot of people. And I want to tell you that we also have many friends who were not traditional supporters of New Democracy.

I believe there may be several of our fellow citizens who did not vote for us in 2019 either, and this time seeing our work and our efforts, but mainly our vision for the Greece of tomorrow, they will trust us this time and that is something that makes me very optimistic about the outcome of the final election result.

Journalist: Mr. President, thank you very much for speaking to our station.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Always hits on your radio.

Journalist: Be well. I will come to see you at noon in person, Mr. President. Our good morning. Be well.