The interview of the Minister of State began with the problem of accuracyAki Skertsouon the main bulletin of the “Alpha” television station.

“Many things have been done, are being done and will continue to be done on this front, which is also the main one that currently concerns households. We fully understand the pain that accuracy causes, how much it eats away at revenues. The increases that have been given to pensioners, employees in the public sector and the private sector are not felt. We need to do more,” he initially said.

“The initiatives taken by the prime minister at the European level have all become European policies,” he also said, citing specific examples, such as the Recovery Fund, which is “the largest package in all of Europe to support public investment and reforms. Greece got it thanks to our intervention.” Other such examples are the covid pass, the cap on natural gas prices. “When the energy crisis arose, a Greek proposal became European policy and when it was adopted, energy prices automatically fell,” he said.

And, focusing on the prime minister’s letter to its President European Commissionemphasized: “A dialogue will follow at the European level, but it is very important that this proposal was submitted for the first time by the Greek Prime Minister”.

According to the Minister of State, the issue of different prices, between countries, for similar products of multinational companies should be dealt with more strictly at the European level, in such a way that “countries, such as Greece, can deal with their own institutional tools this practice”. However, he added, “it is not the measure that will solve the problem”.

Referring to the imported, as he said, inflation of 2021-2, he said that “it was dealt with very adequately, interventions were made by the government amounting to 14 billion euros, which reduced electricity bills and this is no longer a problem”.

At this point, he described as false the opposition’s claim that inflation was not imported. And, right after, “we have never hidden that there are no distortions and distortions regarding the operation of competition in the Greek market. Now that the crisis period is over we need to get over this problem and see how competition can work better. I would expect from the opposition a more honest attitude and not so much toxicity but also so much negativity towards a proposal that the European Commission itself recognizes is a European problem and measures must be taken in the context of the single European market”.

On the other hand, “the Greek government agreed with European policy, proposed something, it was accepted and we will discuss it. The President of the European Commission said that the Mitsotakis proposal is in line with the Draghi and Letta proposals, which talk about the future of the single market”, commented ‘A. Schertz.

And to the criticism that Europe is reacting with delay, he countered that “the Recovery Fund was proposed and implemented within a year. The covid pass, January 2021 was proposed and implemented within a few months. Europe can take quick measures and quick decisions, as long as there is political will – and this is at stake in these elections”, he also interpreted, concluding:

“We are talking about problems that affect the daily lives of citizens, they are decided in Brussels and we must be very responsible when we go to the polls not to vote with a lax attitude. The decisions of Brussels determine the lives in our country”.

On another topic of current affairs, that of our country’s relations with North Macedonia, he recalled: “We had warned about the problems of this Agreement. The Prime Minister had said that it is a problematic Agreement for the interests of Greece, we will find it before us. Once it is voted on, we will not be able to cancel it. That’s what he said.”

While, he added, “since this government was elected, we are keeping a waiting attitude to see the behavior of North Macedonia”.

On the contrary, “SYRIZA is still defending an Agreement that had problems. In fact, he comes with too much frivolity to suggest at this given time that the protocols be ratified now”.

But, he clarified, “we are not going to bring the memoranda to a vote under any circumstances. From there we will wait to see the alignment of the new government with what the Agreement defines. From there, there may be time to see the next measures.”

The interview closed with the topic of the National Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2024 – 2030, under the title “A Greece with All for All”. Subject for which ‘A. Schertsos will inform tomorrow, Thursday, in a joint meeting, the members of the parliamentary committees of Social Affairs, Equality – Youth and Human Rights, as she will on the issues of Persons with Disabilities.

As he noted, “about 10% of the Greek population suffers from some form of disability. For the first time, the Greek government has put down the numbers, it has seen all categories of disability. We have talked with the disability movement, with all the organizations. From 2020 onwards we are implementing a National Action Plan, which has taken things a bit further. By no means have the problems faced by people with disabilities and their families been solved.”

At the moment, he added, “we are presenting a National Strategy for the next seven years – decade. We have estimated that an additional €650 million will be allocated to support the independent living of disabled people in Greece. There are very important actions, such as for their inclusion in the labor market – unfortunately we have the lowest rate of employment of disabled people in Europe – (and these) are things that should concern us. Accordingly, we need to improve special education. To support the families in the contacts they have with the public administration, and who suffer a lot”, acknowledged the Minister of State, who closed the interview by assuring the government’s determination to solve this issue.