The President of PASOK-Movement for Change gave an interview to the main news bulletin of STAR and the journalist Mara Zachareas, Nikos Androulakis.

“Returning yesterday from my speech in Larissa, I read a statement by the competent Minister of Migration Policy, Mr. Mitarakis, in which he stated that I personally speak of European solidarity but never of border guarding. Today I hear Mr. Mitsotakis saying the following terrible thing: That he cannot agree with PASOK because “imagine”, as he said, “I had to agree with Androulakis about Evros”. To understand that there is no bottom to the barrel of fake news of New Democracy. Who started the fence? PASOK. What was New Democracy saying then? That they were communication games. As an MEP, I have worked on the evolution of Frontex into a European coast guard, when some in New Democracy told us that it is like giving away national sovereignty. Because the refugee – immigrant it’s a huge issue, which has escalated globally due to the pandemic, we don’t know what might happen in the future. I note one thing: And guarding the borders and revising the Dublin regulation so that Greece, as the first country of admission, stops being blackmailed. I am asking Mr. Mitsotakis today from the main bulletin of the Star: What did his government do – practically – to revise Dublin? Did nothing. Do you know why; Why did his fellow travelers in the European People’s Party, and especially the Austrians, not discuss under the Austrian presidency to revise the regulation, while the European Parliament had already moved forward with proposals for a fair distribution” meaningfully underlined the President of PASOK-Movement for Change in the wake of the petition K Mitsotakis in his radio interview.

In addition, he noted: “The Mitsotakis game tries to show that PASOK is with Mr. Varoufakis. What does PASOK have to do with Mr. Varoufakis? We fought a battle, in 2010 and throughout time, to keep the country in the euro. With those who played the country at dice, we cannot cooperate and I am talking about the road of the drachma. Mr. Mitsotakis has the audacity to constantly leave hints in his speeches: “Watch out for PASOK, don’t vote for it, because it will get along with Varoufakis”, when in 2010 – at the time of the vote in the Greek Parliament, on whether to stay country in the euro with the first contract or will it go to the drachma – Mr. Mitsotakis voted together with Mr. Tsipras for the country to go to the drachma. So, for Mr. Mitsotakis to try to scare the centrist voters with Trump-style fake news that I will get along with Varoufakis, that I am against guarding the borders, is unbelievable. It really shows what his political ethos is and how he politicizes.”

About youth pass on the eve of the elections, the President of PASOK-Movement for Change pointed out: “I consider it unacceptable for Mr. Mitsotakis to proclaim “take 150 euros” ten days before the elections – it was not in his program, which he announced recently. It is contempt for the real problems of the new generation. I turn to them and say to them: Turn your back on the contempt for your life, your hope, your perspective and come together to build the Greece of the future. Social housing, low rents for young couples and students, public school and public university for the children of the middle class, the poorest Greeks, so they can get all the supplies to build a better life. Young people don’t believe, because they see opacity, bribery, unworthiness. I want to build a state, which will be deeply meritocratic, without “armies” of temporary employees”.

Invited to comment the claim of Kyriakos Mitsotakis that he is obsessed with him, Mr. Androulakis asked himself: “Have I attacked Mr. Mitsotakis with fake news? Did I have my nephew set up the wiretapping scandal against Mr. Mitsotakis? Did I have my deputies shield my nephew, the Lavrano-Biggio businessmen? I have no personal obsessions. I have only one obsession, which you will understand as the years pass and you know me better: to make my country a normal European state that respects the citizen, human rights, has sustainable development and policies for the new generation. Because I believe that our country will never be strong, if the new generation does not stand on its feet”.

As for the post-election partnerships, Mr. Androulakis emphasized that “in Greece the political system is deeply prime minister-centric. There are no institutional counterweights. So when you want to make a large coalition government, the person must express the possibility of cooperation. Mr. Mitsotakis is a one-party government together with the “children” of Karatzaferis and does not co-govern with his party. He rules with his company. The staff state was Mr. Mitsotakis, his friends and his nephew. Is this a culture of collective governance? Let’s go now to Mr. Tsipras, who has a specific path. He promised “seismachty and no house in the hands of a banker” and handed over billions of “red loans”, the labor and sacrifices of the Greek people to the funds. He said he would tear up the memorandums and brought a third memorandum. The person must have credibility within the country, for the Greek people to trust him, and abroad. I won’t say who. That would be arrogance. It will be contempt for the popular verdict if this debate takes place without this popular verdict,” noted Mr. Androulakis, explaining: “When I say persons of common acceptance, I do not mean only the prime minister. I mean ministers too. In other words, in an allied government, will we put someone who wants the “Prespes of the Aegean” as foreign minister? Or immigration minister someone who does not want to guard the border? Or health minister someone who does not believe in the National Health System? Therefore, it is the program and the political orientation that will create the conditions for the selection of persons”.

To the question if he is close to SYRIZA or New Democracy, he replied: “I am not close to one or the other. We are on opposite banks with both of them. You know, the practices are what show the political content of the politician. That is, you may speak liberally, but your practices may be authoritarian. You may speak to the left, but your practices should be conservative. So, I see two political figures and two systems of power that have identical practices, from different ideological shores but in practice they are always the same. Justice: Do Mr. Mitsotakis and Mr. Tsipras respect justice? If Mr. Tsipras respected her, he would have put Mr. Pappas off the ballot. He is convicted 13-0 by the Special Court due to his interference in the competition.