The need for a modern fire prevention plan, another model of forest protection, was pointed out by Nikos Androulakis in his speech on the bill for the vote of emigrants. “Using the scientific potential we have in the five forestry departments of higher education. Without wasting resources or using them to shift responsibility elsewhere and in the end it belongs to no one,” he noted.

The president of PASOK-Movement for Change began his speech in Parliament with two statements: “We honor democracy, the end of the dictatorship and the post-conflict state of discrimination”, he said about today’s 49th anniversary of the Restoration of Democracy, while the points of the president of PASOK-KINAL were clear about the government’s responsibilities and the heavy mark left by the devastating fires, which have already left behind thousands of acres scorched earth in Attica, Boeotia, Corinth, Corfu, Achaia and especially Rhodes.

“I would like to thank the firefighters and volunteers, who have been fighting the flames all over Greece for the last week. I find it unthinkable that competent lips assure that everything is going well, but that Rhodes burns for 7 days”, noted Mr. Androulakis. At the same time, however, he criticized Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, as he stated that this year there are more aerial vehicles and more fire engines and that more state resources were disbursed to the local self-government in view of the fire fighting season, however “he did not tell us why the staff state failed this year to clear the forests and build fire fighting zones. He did not tell us if he checked how state resources were used, by local government, when for example it is alleged that districts opened bids for fire protection for the period 2023-2024 even in July. What has been realized from the national civil protection project “Aegis” amounting to almost 2 billion euros? What happened to the special surveillance and warning systems with drones, the 13 regional operational centers of civil protection?”

The president of PASOK-KINAL pointed out that the communication has short legs and the time is coming to evaluate the effectiveness of the government.

“Many more steps need to be taken. Our natural wealth is being wasted and we cannot remain inefficient. Three and a half million acres burned in our country in the last 10 years. There are very few lungs of green left in Attica,” observed Nikos Androulakis. He characteristically stated that “the time has come for a modern fire prevention plan, another model of forest protection, utilizing the scientific potential we have in the five forestry departments of higher education. Without wasting resources or using them to shift responsibility elsewhere and in the end it belongs to no one.”

He made a special reference to the European Mechanism, where he underlined as rescEU’s rapporteur when it was approved, that it is not limited only to the provision of aid and the purchase of aerial firefighting equipment, but 100% European funding has been secured for the supply of the new Canadairs. “Something you failed to mention during your visit to Elefsina Air Base yesterday. A very basic part of the European Mechanism is also prevention. Take advantage of it! It is now obvious that we must readjust the planning and prevention actions”, underlined the president of PASOK-KINAL and added: “From our side, we cannot accept that what happens every summer will be a new normal that leads to a disaster for the natural wealth of the country and the quality of life of the Greeks”.

Regarding the vote of the emigrants, Nikos Androulakis spoke about experiential relationship of PASOK with the diaspora, since its foundation, and recalled that its governments passed a special development law, created networks of the global diaspora and brought a real revolution in the matter of Greek-speaking education.

“Our project therefore proves that our views on these issues are not contemporary, but have a purely national and value character,” he said, while he remarked: “We did not make decisions with our eyes fixed on the ballot box of the Greeks abroad, masters of the New Democracy. I can’t say the same for you” he noted, leaving clear points for the government’s manipulations and argued that “in the middle of the pre-election period, the government was considering the possibility of reducing or even abolishing the positions of state parliamentarians due to expatriate Hellenism”.

The president of PASOK-KINAL emphasized that it is very important to ensure to the Greeks, and especially to the young people who left abroad during the crisis, the possibility to vote from their place of residence, without this depending on their economic surface or the flexibility that their work gives them. “A wider network of policies is also required, mainly in education and culture, with the use of modern, digital possibilities to maintain the unbreakable ties of Greeks in the diaspora with the motherland,” said Mr. Androulakis, making extensive reference to the problems faced by many Greek schools and their students in Europe and the rest of the world.

He strongly criticized the government for studying and rushing without preparation and without analyzing what went well and what did not when implementing the previous legislative framework in the May and June elections. As Mr. Androulakis said, “the government invokes the consensus but rejected it in practice. What consensus does just one week’s consultation echo? What was the role of emigrants in the formulation of the bill? Nonexistent. You constantly talk about consensus, while your daily practices undermine the broader spirit of consensus that our political system should acquire.”

He strongly criticized her because, as he argued, “she did not answer what will be done with the updating of the electoral rolls and the divisions abroad. The Greek state is not able to accurately determine the number of Greeks abroad who are registered in the electoral rolls per territory and have the right to be registered in the special electoral roll of expatriates. At the same time, we haven’t heard of any plans to address the paradox of a Latin American expatriate having to travel… to Houston to vote. Similar problems occurred in Asia, next to us, and even in the Balkans, where the only polling station was in Sofia.”

Nevertheless, he made it clear that “despite our reasonable concerns, we demonstrate a spirit of consensus, thinking of the tens of thousands of Greeks who are abroad and who, with their scientific, professional and daily social activities, make us proud.

With the thought of the Greek children who left the years of the economic crisis, looking for opportunities for a better life. Today is a big step for us. But nothing ends. We will continue the fight so that every Greek woman and every Greek man abroad can feel the homeland on their side. Hellenism flourished when it preserved its extroversion and the universal spirit of its values. We have a duty to preserve this spirit,” he stressed.

Greek-Turkish

The president of PASOK-KINAL, Nikos Androulakis, expressed reservations and criticisms during the speech in the Parliament on the vote of the emigrants, regarding the expressed approach of the ND government with Turkey, following the meeting of Mr. Mitsotakis and Mr. Erdogan at the NATO Summit in Vilnius.

Mr. Androulakis stated that the existence of open channels of communication with the neighboring country is necessary for building good neighborly relations, but they must be based on respect for international law and the avoidance of challenges on the part of Turkey.

He stated that he was impressed by the study of Mr. Mitsotakis, immediately after the meeting with the Turkish President to put on the table the version of a bold negotiation and even talk about the possibility of concessions.

“Hasn’t he been taught a lesson, the sin of the rendezvous on the Bosphorus last March?” And then he spoke of a “new era in Greek-Turkish relations” and immediately after that a new cycle of tension began. So now, within 24 hours, Mr. Erdogan ignited the climate in Cyprus and once again questioned Greek sovereignty over the islands,” he said specifically. “Leave the communication games and work diplomatically to expand the circle that will support our positions,” he added.

He estimated that the US decision to modernize 80 Turkish F-16 fighters and sell 40 new aircraft is not a positive development, while Mr. Erdogan, who extorted Sweden’s membership and behaves as a factor of instability in the Eastern Mediterranean, cannot be rewarded.

“And let the NATO Secretary General have no illusions that he will determine Turkey’s accession course. He is speechless, Mr. Stoltenberg. But I haven’t heard any of you comment on it. So let him know that the European Union-Turkey relations are dictated only by the European institutions and cannot be connected or serve the pursuits of third parties”, underlined the president of PASOK-KINAL.