“The politics of New Democracy must be condemned. How did Mr. Mitsotakis use the 41% that the people gave him in the national elections”, stated the President of PASOK-Movement for Change, Nikos Androulakis, late last night in his TV interview on the Kontra24 TV station, thus defining the stakes of the European elections.

Criticizing the government for accuracy, Mr. Androulakis spoke of a more than fourfold increase in food inflation in Greece in March compared to the European Union average and of “accuracy that sweeps everything and a prime minister who is a traffic policeman of accuracy” He added how required “strong disapproval of New Democracy policies that have brought new inequalities, cover-up, corruption, scandals, pandering to the powerful. As long as Mr. Mitsotakis does not have a strong opponent, -serious, programmatic-, his arrogance will escalate.”

Nikos Androulakis highlighted the position of PASOK-KINAL for the candidacy of Freddy Beleris with the ND.

“As a member of the European Parliament, I fought for the protection of the rights of the Greek minority to always be in Albania’s file, for there to be amendments for their property rights. We have a Prime Minister who is handling an issue that has national characteristics in a way that we need to discuss. Are the motives of Mr. Mitsotakis, who puts Mr. Beleris on the ballot, national or European? For me, they are neither national nor European, they are electoral. And it should handle these matters with more respect. Mr. Beleris is needed by the minority as mayor in Heimarra, this should have been the government’s priority. But in the face of Mr. Mitsotakis’ personal and party anxiety to stop leaks to the right-wing parties, he did this. For me, the motivations are neither national nor European, they are purely vote-hunting” he commented sharply.

He expressed optimism for the success of PASOK, saying how it will be much better in the arithmetic of the political system on the night of the European elections, whether the basis is the previous European elections or the previous national elections. “However, this is not enough for me, because I consider it my priority to strive for a strong and serious official opposition to the New Republic on the evening of June 9, our country and our state need it. And, secondly, this choice to be a government option in the next national elections. So I do not settle for an arithmetic that may be convenient for me. The country has great needs and I will fight with all my strength so that we have a strong and serious official opposition on the evening of June 9”, underlined Mr. Androulakis.

Mr. Androulakis repeated his proposal to hold a debate of the political leaders, leaving clear points against the Prime Minister and the leader of SYRIZA.

“Why does Mr. Mitsotakis deny it? Because he knows that right now he is in a very difficult position. Corruption with Tempi, corruption with emails, corruption with wiretapping. We are talking about a government that produces corruption and cover-up, and apparently even Mr. Kasselakis does not want to come to the debate because he does not know European issues,” he said, noting the silence of SYRIZA after the government’s rejection of the debate proposal.

Nikos Androulakis disapproved of Mr. Kasselakis’ references to his baptism with “metaphysical signs”, saying how it is manna from heaven for Mr. Mitsotakis.

“These are not serious things. They devalue the debate and give power to New Democracy to be played by the serious dominant pole. I want the Greek people to judge who has brought defeats to Mr. Mitsotakis’ system of power. I expose the illegal surveillance scandal in the summer of 2022, half of Maximus was emptied. I take the initiative with the motion of no confidence a few weeks ago, two of his colleagues leave again. In the self-governing elections, our own choices brought painful defeats to the system of power of Mr. Mitsotakis”, asserted the president of PASOK-Movement of Change.

Referring to the escalation of tension in the Middle East, the President of PASOK-Movement for Change emphasized: “From the beginning we condemned the terrorist acts of Hamas in Israel. On the other hand, here, there is a reaction from Netanyahu that has led to a slaughter in the Gaza Strip. We cannot completely identify with Netanyahu’s policies, because within the political choices he makes in the wider region, it is also his own self-preservation. And on the other hand we have a country, which has a strategy – and I’m talking about Iran – destabilizing for the wider region. That is, it tries to have a wider role through representatives. Greece – like all European states – must have a policy which will be stable in the direction of de-escalation”.