“Let me say a big thank you from the bottom of my heart for the fight we fought side by side with the great electoral successes of the past year”, said Kyriakos Mitsotakis speaking at the National Conference of the DAP-NDFK.

The Prime Minister said that next Friday in Parliament the free university that DAP was the first to plan since 1987 will finally be voted on.

“Soon we will celebrate half a century of democracy and together the 50 years of ND”, continued Mr. Mitsotakis.

“We all have every reason to be proud of this offering journey. This route that showed which is the party of responsible patriotism, of real modernization and which is the student faction that remained insubordinate with the flag of education reforms high. It is primarily DAP that today sees its struggles vindicated”, he added.

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“We all have every reason to be proud of this offering journey. This route that showed which is the party of responsible patriotism, of real modernization and which is the student faction that remained insubordinate with the flag of education reforms high. It is primarily DAP that today sees its struggles vindicated”, he added.

The prime minister said that six years after the previous DAP national conference, what happened then looks like a distant nightmare. He said that the Greece of 2024 has high growth rates and single-digit unemployment, the middle class has been exempted from tax burdens, the minimum wage has been raised three times and will exceed 800 euros for the fourth time. “I had said a target of 1,500 average salary and a minimum of 950. I am more than sure that we will achieve it”, he underlined.

Mr. Mitsotakis referred to the digital state, artificial intelligence and talked about the new Greece of the digital age which the government is building step by step.

“It is no coincidence that out of all the countries of the world, the Economist declared Greece the country of the year in 2023 and the emergence of our homeland as a full democratic state in spite of those who insist on photographing Greece in black colors”, he added and among other things it was also mentioned in establishing equality in civil marriage. “This is a historic turn of the page that has put our country on the path of the 21st century, which is confirmed by the trust of the citizens. Since the summer of 2019, they have been convinced of one thing. This government has the ability to turn difficulties into opportunities”, he underlined.

“We have set a central goal. Our country should converge in everything with the European reality”, he said.

Mr. Mitsotakis then spoke about education and the problem of the roof, noting that on both of these fronts great efforts are being made with significant results. He said that education has never been strengthened so much and that the funding of HEIs is twice as much as in 2018 while he mentioned other changes such as appointments and the doubling of model and experimental schools.

The prime minister referring to the new bill said that it opens our schools to foreign students and reminded that 70% of its articles concern the strengthening of the public university.

“It also foresees the great reform, the operation of non-state non-profit higher education institutions in our country at last. Now this government comes and implements this reform. Branches of international universities will allow Greek children to no longer have to go abroad for studies, relieving their families of the many expenses. The interest is already very intense, but it manifests itself knowing the strict conditions we have set. We are not going to allow the creation of universities in the model of some floors. This is not what we will allow,” he stressed.

Mr. Mitsotakis noted that this is a well thought out initiative that was late in coming to our country. “Perhaps the most emblematic pathology was this peculiar monopoly of higher education by the state. We come and break it and give the freedom of choice to every young man and woman to be able to study in our country instead of going abroad,” he said.

“Mr. Kasselakis says no, but he himself studied at a non-state, non-profit university. Explain this contradiction to me. If the particular university wants to come and establish a branch in Greece, what will it say? I can’t say much about Mr. Androulakis. I will say that I am impressed that he succeeded and took back his original position when the former president of PASOK is in favor of both the necessity and the constitutionality of the regulation. These are the problems of those who deal with whether SYRIZA will be red or green”, he added.

The prime minister thanked the DAP members for the fight they gave to keep the schools open. “The violence at the Greek public university is over. It belongs to another era. We have already moved forward,” he emphasized. “This is the government that broke the veil of universities and abolished the university asylum. Whenever the police need to intervene, they will do so in consultation with the rectory authorities. And if that bothers some, that’s their problem,” he said.

Mr. Mitsotakis said that students are not going to be held hostage by small minorities and then talked about the lack of housing and high rents. He mentioned that it is a challenge that requires a lot of action and talked about increasing the student housing allowance.

“The overall issue is youth housing. The “My Home” program was extremely successful. The key to this equation is to be able to open more houses for rent”, he continued and talked about the relevant actions of the government in this direction.

“I will not talk much today about the quality of the opposition. Unfortunately it slips into greater and greater obscenities. First by supporting a resolution of shame that is dragging the country down, to the point where some are calling for the country’s funding to be cut off. And sometimes turning into a party tool even the mourning, the collective mourning which has no color for the tragedy of Tempe. It is shameful and disgraceful that some political hypocrites wish to monopolize this collective sadness. We all feel the same pain for the tragedy of Tempe, and first of all our young men and women,” he said.

He added that these show what can happen on the way to the European elections and spoke of a mud campaign. “Let’s not forget that the European elections are the first battle after the national elections. For the other parties the results may mean reshuffles in the opposition. For the homeland, the elections will have a much more significant impact. On the one hand, the match will show whether Greece will remain stable in an unstable environment. On the other hand, this battle will determine how strong the national voice will be in the decision-making centers of Brussels. It is necessary to strengthen the faction that put and when necessary kept the country in the European family, to strengthen the party that established the national borders as European. To support the political force that brought additional European resources of 36 billion euros from the Recovery Fund. The only faction that has positions on Europe’s challenges for the next five years. Our representation in the European Parliament is becoming crucial. That’s why you should be the first to vote and take advantage of the possibility if you wish to vote by mail,” he stressed.

“To explain that Brussels is much closer to Athens than the map shows. These polls are not suitable for messages of indifference and inexpensive protest. Our selections for Europe will have a Greek translation. From today we are all on pre-election alert with our youth as always at the front line”, he underlined.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that the counter is going to zero again and the ballot boxes will be empty and will have to be filled again with many blue ballots.

“I call you again. The future is you. In the right you have to claim and live a life better than your parents. Close your ears to leveling. Help us become better too. We are a 50-year-old faction but we are much younger than some who have supposedly made their youth a badge of honor. New bets await us, the first of which is the European elections. I am sure that we will win this again together”, he added closing his speech.