For his great-great-great-grandfather Eleftherios Venizelos, his father Konstantinos Mitsotakis, immigration, the free press in Greece, the enlargement of the Western Balkans up to and including the cancellation of his meeting with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak because of the Sculptures of the Parthenon, the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, spoke in an interview of all the material he gave to the British political podcast ‘Leading’.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke to the head of communication of the Blair governments, Alastair Campbell, and Rory Stewart, secretary of state for the Cameron and May governments. He started with a reference to his great-great-great-grandfather Eleftherios Venizelos and then to his father Konstantinos Mitsotakis with whom, as he said, “we managed to develop an amazing relationship”

“It was not inevitable for me to enter politics – he never forced me to enter politics,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis said, adding: “He was a visionary reformer… he did not fully succeed in implementing the important reforms because he only ruled for one term… he was an anti-populist and he certainly inspired me in that regard”

Asked if he had learned anything from his father’s rule, he said: “It didn’t help that he didn’t have strong self-reliance… and I think he tried to implement very bold reforms without making sure those reforms were properly explained… one mistake he made was deciding to go Papandreou in court and that really polarized politics and made Papandreou come back stronger.”

Referring to Andrea Papandreou characterized him as “a very charismatic personality, although a proto-populist…but also an intellectual and certainly a very capable politician…. We say they were constantly attacking each other, but there was a level of respect – I think things are much worse now, the gloves have completely come off and we’re losing all civility in political debate, it wasn’t like that back then.”

About populism

Regarding the term “populism” Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that “my definition of populism is to promise easy solutions to complex problems and not be honest with the people…”

“We were the first country to experiment with populism, in fact we brought the populists to power in 2015…The economic crisis was unnecessarily prolonged because they elected a populist government in 2015 under the radical left under Alexis Tsipras which in my mind is the definition of a populist politician” he said.

He explained the rise of populism as a consequence of the deep economic crisis and more generally internationally as a consequence of the grievances with globalization “but populism is not a solution. We showed that you can really govern from the center… we focused more on the politics of achieving results” the prime minister pointed out.

On where he would place himself on the British political spectrum, he stated that “I lead the corresponding Conservative Party but I have pushed my party very much towards the center … with MPs who belong to PASOK and I have managed to bring them into the party without offending the traditional voters ».

Asked about him Donald Trump in the context of the populism debate, Kyriakos Mitsotakis refrained from answering, commenting only that “the point of democratic transfer of powers has probably been exceeded”.

For immigration

Regarding the issue of immigrant, the Greek prime minister stated that “we are also responsible patriots. By that I mean that we manage immigration, probably much better than many other European countries, we have invested in defence, we have settled our issues with Turkey and we are liberal on issues like same-sex marriage, which has been a difficult issue in Greece and upset some in my party, I understand that and for that no party discipline”.

At the same time, he pointed out that it is “important that the EU has agreed to an asylum and migration pact”.

“We were faced with a situation where in essence the previous government had an open door policy. Anyone who wanted to come to Greece came to Greece. Without questions, whether from land or sea borders, we simply became something like a reception committee” he emphasized and emphasized that “in March 2020, Turkey instrumentalized immigration.

“You need a big fence and a big door, meaning border protection… but also legal routes of entry… e.g. agreement now with Egypt”.

For the enlargement of the Western Balkans

“One of the things we will end up doing in the next European cycle is rethinking the enlargement process and what it means to be a member. And some of these intermediate milestones that maybe we can set for these countries so that they understand that when they make progress they will see benefits” said Kyriakos Mitsotakis and pointed out about the Prespa Agreement that he had significant disagreements but ultimately respected it.

“Getting closer to Europe means respecting the European acquis and progress on rule of law issues,” he added.

Asked if there is populism in his own politics, Mr. Mitsotakis said “Being anti-populist I try to be bluntly honest with the people. I think we fulfilled our campaign promises when I look back at 2019 and that is one of the reasons we were re-elected. And we recognize our mistakes…” he said making very brief references to the surveillance case and the Tempe crash

“When I make a mistake I have no problem admitting it,” he said.

For her issue freedom of the press in Greece and for what he has been accused of he said that “I have a strong opinion on this. Anyone can write, publish or say whatever they want in Greece. And actually we probably have very weak defamation law.”

“It’s an argument that’s simply not true… I’ve even been accused of being a pedophile…” he said.

For brain drain and the bill on of non-state universities the prime minister announced that “the brain drain has been reversed, many are returning… because they think the country has turned the corner”.

Another question he was asked was about his meeting with the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak which was cancelled at the last minute because of the Sculptors of the Parthenon.

“You are right to note that I reiterated our position in favor of reunification… But these things happen and they certainly will not affect the bilateral relationship between the UK and Greece. When asked by Alastair Campbell, he commented that it is not usual for meetings to be canceled like this, Kyriakos Mitsotakis replied: “The truth is that it had never happened to me before.” I was looking forward to our chat…. Honestly, you shouldn’t take this personally. One of the things you learn in politics is that sometimes you have to leave your personal preferences or personal opinions out of the room… I leave that behind.”

For utilization of Tik Tok he replied that it allowed him to show other aspects of his character. “It was a revelation… I think I have a pretty good sense of humor, I don’t always take myself too seriously, I can talk about other things outside of politics, I have a life outside of politics, I will have a life after politics… People understood who I really am, not as a politician but as a human being”

Finally, regarding whether his children will follow in his footsteps in politics, the Greek Prime Minister said:

“I don’t know… I’ll give them my father’s advice, do what makes you happy,” and thanked his family for their support over the years.
Thanks to his family for the support