“Madam President, I would like to start from the developments in the Middle East and express my deep sorrow for the death of innocent children in the Golan Heights which proves once again the need for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, which obviously, it will drag the northern front between Israel and Lebanon along as well” emphasized Kyriakos Mitsotakis in the dialogue he had during his meeting with the President of the Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

The prime minister added: “I think that the international community cannot remain apathetic to this humanitarian tragedy which is taking place in the Gaza Strip and which unfortunately has many collateral losses and I want you to know that Greece is systematically working towards this direction”.

Afterwards, Mr. Mitsotakis referred to matter of accuracy saying that the government’s attention is on the problem: “Now on domestic matters and as many of our fellow citizens are now preparing for the customary August holidays, I want you to know that the government’s attention remains on the price taming front. The indications we have are encouraging that in the month of June there was also a relative de-escalation of prices in supermarkets. I believe that the overall network of measures taken by the government has begun to pay off and of course we are continuing with controls from the DIMEA side throughout the supply chain but also by strengthening more the Competition Commission which is, according to the laws, in charge of identifying concentration phenomena in the market which lead to oligopolistic situations which in turn can lead to an increase in prices”.

Mr. Mitsotakis also referred to the prices at electricity: “Of course, the government is following the developments in the energy market very carefully. As you know in recent weeks there has been a very sharp increase in wholesale energy prices across Eastern Europe and the Balkans. The result was that energy producers made skyrocketing profits. The government will tax these profits by imposing a one-off fee as it has done in the past, sending a message that the Greek consumer cannot pay for any malfunctions in an energy market which, at the European level, has not yet reached the point of operation that we would like. I am happy because in the last few days, possibly as a result of the government’s announcements, prices have returned to normal levels but everyone should know that at any moment the government will be ready to intervene so that distortions in the market and profits that are not justified by the smooth operation of the wholesale electricity market”.

And then the Prime Minister said the following: “I would also like to make a mention of the issues concerning health and I am happy because finally in consultation with the Ministry of Health and the local medical associations a solution seems to have been found, a voluntary offer of private doctors to cover some on-call needs in some hospitals in the country.

We fully recognize that this is a temporary solution and I am convinced that the relevant provision passed in the Parliament will never need to be activated because these kinds of problems must always be solved by consensus and in cooperation with the local medical associations and with the consent of local communities. I emphasize again that this is a temporary measure as the ministry immediately legislates a new set of incentives for those specialties and those hospitals that are proven to have a problem attracting permanent medical staff to cover permanent needs. But at least for the time being, the problem seems to be being treated in good spirits on all sides, as this poses a critical public health issue. Finally, Madam President, I recently completed a meeting on the issues of water scarcity that some regions of our country are facing, a problem that may acquire structural characteristics due to the climate crisis.

I believe that we will be able to deal with the emergency situations that have arisen this summer, but rest assured that we will need more structural interventions of a corrective nature in the issues related to water management and water supply and drainage, and the government will soon make additional announcements around these critical issues”.

Taking the floor n President of the Republic said the following: “Mr. President, the crisis in the Middle East is indeed tragic, the situation is tragic, hospitals, schools are affected, now a field where children were playing, of course in general the losses in the civilian population are tragic. Efforts to achieve a ceasefire should be exhausted, all that should follow, the return of the hostages, everyone should intensify efforts in this direction. It cannot stay like this, it is truly humanely unacceptable. You rightly mentioned ours, accuracy is important for social cohesion, access to public health, these are areas that concern the citizen in his daily life and there one should not be left behind with public policies. This gap created between the winners and losers of globalization should be covered and reduced as much as possible, and any effort in this direction is correct.

In terms of public health, of course, I absolutely believe that the staff of the National Health Service, all doctors and nurses, are doing everything they can, they proved it during the pandemic and they continue to do so now. Obviously, in the summer period, permits must also be given, people have exhausted their efforts. So I hope that the best possible solution will be found and always with the collective good in mind because health is offered to the citizen for all of us.

As for the islands, I am also observing, following all this discussion that is taking place and the first remarks and problems that we have known about for years. Maybe now we have an aggravation because we are also dealing with the climate crisis, with the rains that have not fallen enough and all that is being created. Maybe tourism is very important for our country but we should also look a little at the carrying capacity of the islands and how they can deal with these issues and make the local communities and everyone aware of it. In other words, I think this has to do with the central policy and the strategy that is being followed but also with the awareness of the local communities that we all see in the long term what is beneficial for everyone”.

Taking the floor again, the Prime Minister noted: “An additional remark to what you said Madam President. Indeed, I believe that it is also methodologically correct to treat the islands possibly differently from mainland Greece. Their needs are different, the potential of the infrastructure is different, their carrying capacity is different, and again I use a term with reservation because it can be subject to many different interpretations. And because, as you know, there are also court decisions regarding the issues of off-plan building which the government must soon somehow adapt”.