The importance of participating in the European elections was underlined by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in the established weekly report of the government’s work that he posted on Sunday morning on Facebook, shortly before his cross-channel interview (today at 11:00 am).

Mr. Mitsotakis emphasized why citizens should actively participate in the electoral process, while entering the summer season, he also spoke about the checks on the beaches.

The prime minister referred, among other things, to infrastructure projects, contracts for reforestation issues, the doctors of KEPA, while there was no shortage of his reference to the two trophies won by Panathinaikos and Olympiacos, in basketball and football respectively.

In detail, the post of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis:

“Good morning to all from my beloved Chania, where in a little while I will give a cross-channel interview ahead of next Sunday’s European elections. We may be counting down to the polls, but that doesn’t mean we’ve stopped working to deliver on our commitments.

But before I tell you about what I stood out from last week, you will first allow me a couple of words about the European elections. Because I want to emphasize that it is a crucial political battle – both European and national – from which no one should miss. European choices affect all aspects of our daily lives and we need to have a strong voice to more effectively claim even more for our country, especially at a time of great reshuffles and geopolitical risks. The renewal of the mandate and the confidence of the citizens in our government next Sunday will give us the strength but also increase our responsibility to run the reforms more decisively. Abstention from Democracy does not solve the problems, on the contrary, it allows all kinds of populists and the extremes to exploit the anxieties in our absence.

I was informed in the meantime that already over 132,500 postal votes (about 2/3 of the total) have reached their destination by post. If you haven’t sent it yet, tomorrow Monday is the last chance through the cooperating courier companies, and the day after tomorrow Tuesday to deliver the envelope yourself to a store of the courier company.
So let’s take a look at what we had this week, and I’ll start with the five contracts, totaling €52.1 million, signed under the National Plan Reforestation. These concern the reforestation of areas with a total area of ​​more than 58,000 acres in areas of Attica, Central Macedonia and Northern Evia. The restoration of degraded forest ecosystems will be done by the use of native species and artificial reforestation under the supervision of the forest services. The resources for the implementation of the project come from a Recovery Fund, from which our other flagship action to remove huge amounts of flammable, excess biomass that has accumulated in our forests for years is also financed.
And since I caught this issue, let me remind you that only for this year – when the application of the special platform akatharista.apps.gov.gr was launched for the first time – an extension was given until June 30 to the citizens to declare the cleaning of the plots and uncovered areas of their property from dry grasses and branches. Everyone – state, local government and citizens – must contribute as much as we can to fire protection, especially now that we are faced with the unpredictability of the climate crisis.
I continue with the new Office of Special Social Groups of DYPA, which I visited during the week. It is a model employment office, in modern facilities, fully accessible to people with mobility disabilities and vision difficulties. There, experienced DYPA staff provide information on training, employment and entrepreneurship issues as well as personalized support for people with disabilities, female victims of gender and domestic violence, the homeless, released from prison, dependents, victims of human trafficking, refugees, Roma and transgender people. Vulnerability visibility and support is our daily concern.
I would like to take this opportunity to mention that more than 1,200 doctors responded to our call and applied to join the Special Corps of Doctors (ESI) of the Disability Certification Centers (KEPA). The invitation concerns the inclusion of 700 doctors in the Register to put an end to the suffering of people with disabilities, but due to the great interest an extension was given which expires tonight. Improving disability certification services and speeding up processes is the least we can do for an inclusive society.
I will now go tothe possibility for our fellow citizens with debts of up to 30,000 euros to retire from EFKA. The relevant Joint Ministerial Decision was signed, so freelancers with debts of up to 30,000 euros or farmers with debts of up to 10,000 euros can get a pension with 60% of their pension withheld, and then the possibility of 60 installments will be given, as is also the case today. To explain to those who do not know that until now, those self-employed people who owed more than 20,000 euros or those farmers who owed more than 6,000 euros to the e-EFKA, in order to receive their pension had to pay the excess amount in one lump sum within 2 months.
I now turn to two important infrastructure projects that we had committed to implement. The first is the new road Evinos bridge which had been destroyed in December 2021 by extreme weather phenomena that had affected Etoloakarnania. This was put into circulation and is now more durable, providing a definitive solution to the reconnection of the old Antirrio – Ioannina highway and smooth access to the settlements located at the mouth of the river. The second project is the electrical interconnection of the islets of Ro and Strogylis with Kastellorizo. Special technical and other difficulties had to be faced due to morphology, geographical location, availability and required means mainly for laying the cables. The project with a total financial balance of 22 million euros was completed with urgent procedures for reasons of national importance and a few days ago – as we had promised – its operation was inaugurated.
Major and minor infrastructure projects unfrozen in the past four years have begun to be delivered with the aim of improving infrastructure across the country, facilitating and protecting citizens. Citizens and anyone interested can now know them and check their progress through the innovative platform for Greek data erga.gov.gr which was designed and created by the DG Coordination in collaboration with the ministries, the local government and the agencies involved. Until 2019 central administration had no way of knowing what was being done, where, how it was being funded, what stage it was at, when it would be completed, who was carrying out the work. Now, all this information has been gathered in a very user-friendly platform that is both a step towards transparency and accountability on the part of the state.
“There is nothing like Halkidiki” and in the issue of beach surveillance, since the first controls with drones have started from Halkidiki in order to establish possible violations of existing concessions on the coast and beaches. The first flights were made over the beaches “Pefkohori” and “Polychrono” as they gather an increased number of complaints. The recordings from the drones were sent to the relevant land agencies for analysis and for taking the necessary measures, where necessary. Controls for the observance of legality on seashores and beaches will continue at an intensive rate in the next period throughout Greece.
I close with the two huge victories of Greek sports that excited us all, regardless of which team we support. Let me also express my warm congratulations – in the order they won the battles – to Panathinaikos, who with an amazing game returned to the top of Europe, conquering the Euroleague against the great Real! Warm congratulations to Olympiakos for winning the Conference League! A historic success, as it became the first Greek team to win a European title in inter-club football! It was also a smooth and safe event, for which the Ministry of Citizen Protection who, together with the police, guarded this fine celebration of football deserves congratulations.
Thank you very much for your time, and to remind you again of the importance of your participation in the elections one week from today! June 9 we all vote! And we’ll be back here with the regular review in two weeks.