“Great interest from ten serious foreign universities in establishing their branches in Greece” states that there is, in his interview with Proto Thema, the Minister of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports, Kyriakos Pierrakakisrepeating the permanent government position that “Greece cannot wait for the revision of Article 16 of the Constitution”.

Mr. Pierrakakis states that “the government’s legislative initiative does not violate the Constitution” and emphasizes that “in Greece, public universities are the flagship of higher education in every scenario”. He refers to the distinction between colleges “that operate legally, with decisions of the court of the European Union and provide their students with full professional rights”, he emphasizes that “the post-secondary market is completely unregulated today” and points out “how with the bill for the establishment of branches and non-state universities in Greece, we also offer their students full academic rights”.

The Minister of Education gives clarifications on the security conditions that will prevail in universities, claiming that “there has been progress compared to the past” and brings back the opinions of prominent constitutional experts, according to which, in the light of EU law, the interpretation of the article 16 of the Constitution allows the establishment of branches of foreign university institutions. He states that “many professors of the Diaspora wish to return to Greece, either in collaborations with public universities, or through the branches of foreign universities”.

Finally, the Minister of Education refers to the attitude of the opposition parties and especially PASOK towards the bill, for which he states that “voting against someone regardless of what their real position is, just to differentiate themselves from the government’s position , is strategy and practice of another century – these are not even political fig leaves.’