“First of all, it was very correct to point out that we heard a while ago that equality in civil marriage it does not automatically lead us to a much better world having effectively eliminated all discrimination and all prejudices. But it is a very important step in the right direction”the Prime Minister said, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in the discussion context with Giorgos Kapoutzidisduring 3rd Annual Conference of The Upfront Initiative, at the Athens Conservatory.

“On the other it is clear that today in society there is a great tension. There’s a lot of rage and there’s anger, there’s violence especially at younger ages.”the prime minister emphasized.

“All of us felt a shock, an anger at the images we saw in Thessaloniki, which oblige us not to put our heads in the sand, not to say ugh! Okay, fine. We have done some important things, we are going to go further, but to realize that this problem has deep roots”.

Mitsotakis

At another point in the debate, the prime minister asked himself a question “if the State should legislate for the few or for the many? The state must legislate for everyone,” he stressed. He pointed out at this point, that for example we should not penalize the disabled because as he said the regulatory framework matters, limiting disability benefits because some may happen to find themselves on an increased income scale. He added: “There is another category, which we did not touch on, and these are our elderly fellow citizens. Because even there there are stereotypes of ‘the old man who can’t work’, ‘he retired and what will he do from now on’. But when we now changed the law and enabled pensioners to work without depriving them of their pension and simply paying a tax for the hours they work, we’ve seen a huge response.”