“Greece was upgraded for the first time since 2010 in the annual report “Democracy Index” for 2023 in the category of “full democracy”, rising to 20th place. This is the best answer to those who slander the country”, said Mr. Marinakis during his introductory statement.

In particular, Mr. Marinakis stated that “our country’s overall rating is 8.14, while we were rated 10 in the areas of electoral process and pluralism, 7.14 in the functioning of the government, 7.2 in political participation, 7.5 in political culture and 8.82 in state/social liberties, the area in which we scored highest after the electoral process and pluralism. In fact, countries such as France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, the USA and Belgium collected a lower score than Greece.”

“This is the best answer to those who systematically, inside and outside the borders, criticize and slander our country” he added.

The entire opening statement of Pavlos Marinakis:

In a short time the Prime Minister will make his speech in the plenary session of the Parliament on the bill for equality in civil marriage.

Equality in civil marriage has been legislated in 36 countries in the world, 20 of which are in Europe. Legislation of equality in civil marriage automatically implies the application of the entire legislative framework of kinship relations, including adoption, which has been established and is in force in 39 countries in the world, of which 23 states are in Europe and 16 are member states of EU.

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Greece was upgraded according to the Democracy Index of the Economist Intelligence Unit, for the first time since 2010. Our country, after being named “country of the year” by the Economist, from being labeled a “defective democracy”, rose 5 places in the ranking occupying 20th place and is now characterized as a “full democracy”.

The overall score of our country is 8.14, while we scored 10 in the areas of electoral process and pluralism, 7.14 in the functioning of government, 7.2 in political participation, 7.5 in political culture and 8.82 in state/social freedoms, the area in which we scored the highest after the electoral process and pluralism.

In fact, countries such as France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, the USA and Belgium scored lower than Greece.

This is the best answer to those who systematically, inside and outside the borders, criticize and slander our country.

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A scientific committee is established, by decision of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, which undertakes the preparation of a National Strategy for the Prevention and Dealing with Violence and Delinquency of Minors.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister chaired a working meeting with the members of the committee, during which a first discussion was held regarding the existing framework and the objectives of the National Strategy.

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The Prime Minister spoke at the event for the inclusion of new firefighting ships in the Fire Brigade. During his speech, he referred to the progress of the “Aegis” program, which is being planned and implemented at a very fast pace, while he emphasized that more than 2.1 billion euros will be allocated to infrastructures related to Civil Protection.

Already, projects of 800 million euros have been tendered, of which the tenders amounting to 700 million went “in the air” in the last 6 months of 2023. These are the procurement of aircraft, helicopters, floating means of rescue and transport, fire engines, drones, etc.

As mentioned yesterday by the Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Vassilis Kikilias, the goal is to have tenders announced for the entire AEGIS program by the end of March.

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The draft law of the Ministry of Justice, which implements a series of amendments to the Civil Code and the Code of Civil Procedure, was put up for public consultation yesterday, in order to make it possible to transfer material to Lawyers and Notaries, which up to now only concerns Judges, with the aim the acceleration of Justice.

For the first time, the responsibility for handling a large number of cases is transferred to the co-officers of Themis, thus relieving judicial officers of duties without evidence of litigation, evidentiary difficulty and minor legal difficulty. The quality and safety of the transfer of the competence of the procedures is guaranteed, in any case, since the Lawyers and the Notaries act par excellence as unpaid public servants.

Based on the proposed provisions, it is envisaged that the following will be carried out by Lawyers of the Bar Association of the locally competent Court of First Instance:

1. registration and amendment of the statutes of a large part of the associations – professional associations, union-type trade unions, as well as sports associations

2. the issuance of a certificate of inheritance. In order to protect the rights of third parties that may be affected, it is possible to provide legal protection after filing an objection.

3. the drawing up of a deed of acceptance of inheritance, which, in order to take the form of a public document, will be presented together with all the relevant documents to the competent secretary of the Court of inheritance, in order to draw up the relevant acceptance report and register it in the special books of the Magistrate’s Court.

4. The entries and deletions of consensual mortgage pre-notes.

The issuance of a probate or the consensual elimination of a pre-mortgage notice is necessary for many of our fellow citizens in order to carry out financial transactions, to unblock their assets and while until now they had to wait months, with the proposed arrangements the process will be a matter of a few days.

Furthermore, an attempt is made to further relieve the secretariats of the Courts, with the provision of receiving affidavits exclusively from Notaries and/or Lawyers.

The purpose of the proposed regulations is to free judges from non-judicial duties so that they can use the time they currently have for the study of case files and faster issuance of decisions and the speedy and less expensive processing of the above legal procedures for the citizen.

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The Standing Committee for Combating Violence imposed an administrative sanction against KAE AEK for holding a sports meeting as the home team, in a national event, without the presence of spectators, due to the throwing of an object capable of causing bodily harm, inside the playing field, during the of the Basket League match between KAE AEK and KAE Panathinaikos which took place on 12/02/2024.

We are committed to strict adherence to the law on stadium safety and we are putting it into practice. The DAEB has limited authority to impose the sanctions and will do so. We must all be on the same page for the benefit of professional sports and for the safety of citizens by keeping delinquent minorities off the field.

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With an amendment submitted to the Parliament, from 2024 the repayment installments of ENFIA are increased from 10 to 11 for 2024 and to 12 from 2025 and the deadline for submitting the statement of real estate data E9 is accelerated.

The first installment of the ENFIA will be paid by April 30 and the last in February 2025. From 2025 onwards, it is stipulated that the ENFIA will be paid in up to 12 equal monthly installments with a deadline for paying the last installment in February of the following year. The aim of the regulations is to reduce the amount of each installment in order to facilitate the repayment of the tax and also the planning by the taxpayers.

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Two job subsidy programs for unemployed and long-term unemployed fellow citizens are starting, after the publication of the relevant Ministerial Decisions.

The aim of the first program, with a budget of 48 million euros and a duration of 12 months, is to deal with unemployment but also to support the public health system. This is an extension of the contracts of 4,000 beneficiaries in positions of scientific, nursing staff and in other critical specialties of the public health system. The employment of the beneficiaries will continue in the same positions and under the same conditions.

The second employment subsidy program concerns 1,300 long-term unemployed over the age of 55 and lasts 24 months. The aim of the program, with a budget of 31.2 million euros, is to create a total of 1,300 new full-time jobs in the public health sector.

The grant amount per beneficiary is set at 75% of salary and non-salary costs and up to 750 euros and is covered by the budget of DYPA and the bodies of the General Government, in which the beneficiaries will be employed.

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Tomorrow, Friday, February 16, the Prime Minister will travel to Munich, Germany, to participate in the International Security Conference.

Please for your questions.