“Mr. Mitsotakis gives a recital of arrogance and intemperance I would say. Does it have approximately 120 MPs more than the second party and does it face the terror of instability?”, said the president of PASOK-Movement of Change in an interview on the main news bulletin of ERT.

“A year ago the people gave it 41% and we have the highest accuracy in Europe, we pay the highest private health costs in the eurozone, the second highest in Europe of 27 – only Bulgaria surpasses us – we have the lowest purchasing power in the eurozone and second worst in Europe of 27”, pointed out Mr. Androulakis and noted characteristically: “Instead of apologizing that a year ago he has not done anything about all this, he comes to para five to say ‘I am blackmailing you to vote for me because we will go into instability ‘. I consider it a mockery and I am sure that this arrogance will be rejected by the Greek people in the European elections”.

He insisted on his proposal to hold a debate between the political leaders, stating that “Mr. Mitsotakis does not want a debate, because he does not want commitments. He wants to do monologues. We have very crucial European elections and there must be concrete commitments. If the prime minister has equated the European elections with the issue of stability, he must have a debate. Mr. Mitsotakis cannot want his own black and white. To finally choose. If the European elections raise the issue of stability, I invite him today from the ERT studio to come, as we did in the national elections, to debate with two circles: European and national issues, with clear commitments”.

Mr. Androulakis announced that he will take the initiative to send a letter to the Prime Minister to “reduce the VAT on basic goods to the standards of Spain for as long as the crisis lasts, in order to reduce prices and bear the most vulnerable. He also stated that he will ask Mr. Mitsotakis to create a Single Consumer Authority following the standards of other European states, so that it becomes known which products in Germany or other countries are cheaper compared to Greece, and campaigns are made against them the multinationals that profit off the backs of the Greek people.

Nikos Androulakis’s criticisms of the government’s foreign policy were harsh. In particular, regarding the heavy challenge of the President of North Macedonia, the president of PASOK-Movement for Change underlined: “The name of the party coalition that the president of North Macedonia actually represents is called ‘Our Macedonia’. This has been known for many months. What did the government do? But, only the name of the coalition in which VMRO also participates is a monument of emancipation. Did the Ministry of Foreign Affairs make any progress? Did he do something? So, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is sleeping, is it surprised that one fine morning, a well-known representative of Pan-Slavism comes out as president and says something that is to the detriment of this agreement?”

He argued that this is a blunder and criticized the position of Stefanos Kasselakis that the three protocols should be ratified. “In other words, let’s give her the ground to say ‘I was justified, with my redemption I led them to the sanction’. The agreement has a huge deficit and this is the responsibility of those who signed it: It does not have a mechanism to implement and monitor the agreement” added the president of PASOK-Movement for Change.

Regarding the Greek-Turkish, Mr. Androulakis pointed out that “you cannot talk about ‘calm waters’ and Mr. Erdogan wants to put the ‘blue homeland’ in the books, to imply division in the Cypriot issue and not to respect the world culture. In Hagia Sophia, after its transformation into a mosque, there are effects on the monument. If I were Mr. Mitsotakis, I would show my discomfort with this challenge four days before the Greek Prime Minister goes to Ankara, with one postponement of the visit.”

Referring to the European agenda of the socialists, Mr. Androulakis pointed out that since 2010 they have been talking about a Eurobond to support Europe’s welfare state and a fund of European economic sovereignty, which will restore to its productive base industrial and manufacturing sectors that have gone to third countries, like in China, so let’s have autonomy”.

“I am against a European army, a common foreign policy and, in matters concerning equipment – and I have passed it in the European Parliament on my own initiative – any state that wants to sell weapons to a third country, to be checked if this country threatens Europe” he commented in terms of the proposal of Kyriakos Mitsotakis for a defense Eurobond.

Regarding reports about the refusal of the EYP to submit data to the ADAE for his illegal surveillance, the president of PASOK-Movement for Change said: “The decision of the Council of State is clear: I must be legally informed about the formal justification. I can’t imagine that in 2024 in a normal European country, the secret services do not respect justice and, indeed, the supreme justice. I can’t imagine it. It will be a huge political cost and another black page in the governance of Mr. Mitsotakis. So I’m waiting. In any case, I will continue legally, because if someone imagines such an answer, it will have legal consequences.”

Finally, regarding PASOK’s political goal in the European elections, Mr. Androulakis noted: “I aspire that evening to have a strong, reliable opposition that can be the next government in the next national elections.

My priority is to open a dialogue with the real progressive forces in any case. As it happened in self-government and we achieved many things. I can serve this call. Can Mr. Kasselakis serve it? Mr. Kasselakis is the president of the Kasselakis party. He is not the president of the SYRIZA party. This is the reality, as much as we want to talk about other things. Executives come to PASOK and leave from there. So we are talking about two other standards. I will go by insisting politically until the end. When there is no strong politics, the only winner is the domestic oligarchy. Strong politics means strong democracy” he concluded.