In building of Astypalea the president of SYRIZA-PS mentions in his post, Stefanos Kasselakis, arguing that “the ‘green’ Astypalaia promised by the prime minister was the communication shell for the creation of a building monster, which has nothing to do with the character and structures of the island”.

Specifically in his post he states: “Do you remember the Prime Minister’s fiesta in Astypalea with the project “Astypalea: smart & sustainable island”? The islanders remember… And Mr. Mitsotakis declared: ‘What is happening on this beautiful Aegean island is truly a revolution’.

Do you know what was behind it? Truly a disaster. The ‘green’ Astypalaia was the communication shell for the creation of a building monster, which has nothing to do with the character and structures of the island. With villas and hotels that exceed in area the two largest settlements of the island. With three times more construction than allowed, in violation of the 2002 presidential decree for the protection of 25 small islands of the Aegean (Government Gazette 402D). Against the presidential decree, against the municipal council, against the residents, Kyriakos Mitsotakis is destroying the island and turning it, as Michalis Tsintsinis writes in his article in Kathimerini, into a ‘colony of endogenous colonialism’. A few months ago, during the ‘naval tour’ I did with Admiral Apostolakis, we were stranded due to weather conditions in Astypalaia for two days. I met the inhabitants of the island, I saw its treasure. Its settlements and its unadulterated nature. I will be with the residents. To protect the beauty of the island. To set modern and sustainable conditions for tourism development. To set limits to a hyper-tourism that destroys our place and, ultimately, trivializes the ‘heavy industry’ of our country”.