“In December 2019, a total of 92,838 immigrants lived in Greece, while today this number is 21,245. At the same time, the structures operating in 2019 were 130, while today there are 33. These numbers cannot be denied by anyone”, the government representative pointed out. Pavlos Marinakisduring the briefing of the political editors at noon on Tuesday.

In question about the migratory and Germany’s attitude, Mr. Marinakis noted:

“Fortunately for our country, domestically immigration is not one of the biggest problems of the citizens, because the government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis has followed a completely different immigration policy and this disturbs those who are trying to ignite a debate and create concerns about the promotion of their own agenda. We will continue to guard our borders, away from pending applications, by implementing a strict but fair immigration policy. This is not going to change, the new Migration Pact for Asylum, in which Greece played a leading role, is not going to be unimplemented and Greece is not going to make another country’s problem its own. The rumors that tens of thousands of immigrants will come to the country are far from reality.”

At the same time, the government representative clarified that there is no way for our country to accept immigrants from the territory of Germany, stating that there is a distinction between those with asylum who have more freedom of movement. Regarding the fence in Evros, he reiterated that the project will be completed normally as the prime minister has promised.

“Our islands have a right to an EEZ/coastal shelf – Greece will never weigh issues of national sovereignty”

Invited to comment on developments in Greek-Turkishas well as the provocative statements of the Turkish representative Omer Celik who called the Greek Minister of Defense Nikos Dendias a “provocateur”, Pavlos Marinakis said that Mr. Dendias repeated fixed national positions.

“It is a given that our islands have the right to an EEZ and a continental shelf, Greece is never going to weigh sovereignty issues, nor discuss what we consider “red lines”. Don’t confuse dialogue with naivety and don’t equate dialogue with agreement,” he emphasized.

“The selection of Tzidzikosta in the Transport and Tourism portfolio highlights the geopolitical importance of our country”

With reference to the announcement by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on the assumption of the portfolio of Sustainable Transport and Tourism by Apostolo Tzizikostasthe government representative began his introductory statement.

“The Sustainable Transport portfolio highlights the geopolitical importance of Greece and its strategic position as a gateway country for trade, energy and networking both to the Western Balkans and Eastern Europe and as the north-eastern tip of the Mediterranean. This reflects the important role of our country in connectivity and transport and strengthens both its position in the transport and energy routes to and from Europe, as well as its pivotal role as a bridge to the Middle East and North Africa”, he emphasized.

The government representative emphasized that Greece’s portfolio handles important projects and community resources such as the EU financial instrument to finance strategic investments in transport networks, energy and digital. “Indicative of its importance is the fact that during the period 2021-2027 it handles resources of the order of 26 billion euros for the transport sector alone. For the first time, our country’s portfolio is expanding by including tourism, which is the heavy industry of our country. Greece is already a pioneer in taking measures for sustainable tourism development and as a tourist country it has to contribute with proposals and initiatives in the direction of sustainable tourism and the improvement of infrastructure”.

He then stated that the bill for the reform of the institution of the personal doctor, the establishment of university health centers and other provisions of the Ministry of Health will be put up for public consultation within the next few days, and he analyzed the main provisions introduced by the draft law.

He then moved on to the pilot application of the digital job card, pointing out that it is to be put into full operation on March 1, 2025 in order to give sufficient time to businesses operating in the specific sectors to adapt to the new data and to resolve any practical issues. He underlined that the digital work card ensures the rights of workers as it monitors real working time and combats abusive policies of undeclared overtime and illegal changes and excesses of working time. It is worth noting that according to the data of the ERGANI Information System, with the implementation of the digital work card, an increase in declared overtime was observed”, he emphasized.

He added that “a typical example of the increase in declared overtime by sector is supermarkets where, from the start of the implementation of the measure until the end of 2023, a cumulative increase of 61.2% was observed”.

“For the second time in a few days, Greece’s credit rating is upgraded”

Changing the subject, Mr. Marinakis then stated that “for the second time in a few days, the creditworthiness of our country is upgraded. After DBRS, the rating agency Moody’s proceeded to upgrade the prospects of the Greek economy.

The reasons noted as causes of the upgrade are faster growth, better – compared to planning – fiscal performance which is mainly attributed to the measures to limit tax evasion and the further strengthening of the banking system. Moody’s notes that the Greek government has demonstrated a strong commitment to fiscal prudence and has implemented a series of fiscal reforms in recent years that have boosted revenues. He also points out that higher primary surpluses will in turn support faster debt reduction and that the health of the banking system has improved as Greek banks are now closer to the European Union average in terms of capitalization ratios. profitability and non-performing loans”.

He also underlined:

“We want this image to be effectively reflected in the wallets of Greek citizens and not just be an index or a number in an exhibition. The bet of the Greek government is to increase even more the disposable income of the citizens with permanent movements that will remain when the inflationary crisis is over. At the same time, the improvement of the economy is also demonstrated by the increase in tax revenues, without, however, at the same time increasing any tax rate”.

Mr. Marinakis also pointed out that since yesterday “the Additional Digital Manual for the High School Informatics course is available, with which another commitment is implemented in the context of the 11+1 changes with which this school year begins.