Citizen security, immigration and leaks of the government to its right were the central topics of the one-hour radio interview of the Minister of State Makis Voridis on SKAI 100.3.

At the conclusion of which, at the end, the Minister of State referred to the “central idea” of the current government: “It was presented to a very large extent by the prime minister: it is the effort to bring this country forward in all sectors – this prime minister he calls “versatile modernization”. What is it? To raise wages, to reduce social inequalities, to deal with all the accumulated pathogens of many, many years”.

However, starting from the issues of combating crime, he first clarified that the criminal measures do not concern specific groups, social or otherwise, for example the Roma. That a group shows increased criminality is a sociological finding, he added. “The police are doing an amazing job,” the minister also said, citing the increase in arrests.

However, where he identified a problem is in the relapse, an issue which will be resolved by a special provision by the Minister of Justice, Mr. Floridis, noted the Minister of State. With mandatory withdrawal of temporary measures and mandatory detention for the so-called “professional criminals”. And, he reiterated that they are not measures aimed at a specific social group, but measures aimed at crime. “Which team they belong to is irrelevant,” he added. After all, targeted criminal law does not exist, it is more properly prohibited, for reasons of equality, human rights, etc., he added. “We are still picking up” what the SYRIZA criminal codes left behind, he added.

While at another point of the interview, the Minister of State emphasized that this government four times changed the Penal Code for the strictest. But, he clarified, the change does not cover crimes that have already been committed. The 30% increase in arrests shows that the police are working well and efficiently, he argued, and went on to say that the government’s approach to crime is unified. The issue of recidivism arises precisely because the police work, he insisted.

On the issue of immigration, he began his presentation by asking, “which country, a grape vine?”, quoting, immediately after, specific data: In 2019, there were 100,000 people in the 110 centers for immigrants, while today there are 20,000 in the 30 centers.

At this point, the criticism leveled at the government, from the right, was put on the table: “What would they do more than what the government is doing?”, he asked himself and answered: “We don’t know, because they don’t tell us, because it doesn’t exist. There is no stricter immigration policy than the one followed by the government in the whole of Europe.”

The issue opens up further, argued M. Voridis at a later point in the interview, due to the change in political-social correlations. And, focusing on us, “Kyriakos Mitsotakis was the star of the whole effort for what led to the Pact on Migration”, with the burden-sharing mechanism. “Kyriakos Mitsotakis succeeded in introducing into the Pact a completely different perspective that did not exist in Europe, which is the perspective of guarding the European borders.” Until now, he added, the logic of legal concepts prevailed, as he mentioned, with the result that “we make traffic policemen”. However, “with a hard struggle of this particular prime minister, the man called Kyriakos Mitsotakis”, Europe was led to a change of policy.

At the same time, M. Voridis recalled that Germany, under Merkel’s prime ministership, took the lead in managing the problem, but this is now changing, now the states and nations are living the consequences of the previous policy. The elections solve the issues, both outside and inside, he noted moreover, providing at the same time the assurance that the government listens every day to the citizens, they will, of course, judge whether it responds to their requests, he acknowledged.

In another matter and on the occasion of today’s news about the imposition of a one-day suspension on a student who used a mobile phone, in a school in Patras, M. Voridis observed that “when a disciplinary measure is imposed, it is not a good message for parents to say, ” why did you do this to my child?” It is not a crime of devotion…”

Foreign policy for the future, with the minister wondering: “What have we given?” What has Turkey gained?” He also referred to the right of harmless passage in international waters that other states have, Turkey in this case, even for its warships.

On the subject of equality in civil marriage, he reiterated that it was the only one, in the five years of the New Democracy government, in which a great internal differentiation was recorded, as he said. “It’s one of the 500 things we’ve done,” he emphasized.

He then turned his arrows against the president of the Hellenic Solution Kyriakos Velopoulos. After accusing him of running a populist opposition, he added that he has never, ever, presented a specific position. However, he also spoke about those who leave parties because their personal goals were not met. However, he emphasized the importance of the ND having an organized speech, within which individual opinions can be developed.

Finally, when asked about the scenarios for changing the electoral law, he assured that no such discussion has been opened within the government. He suggested, “let time pass”. At the end of the four years, at that time, “we will also see the correlations. At that time the government will also be judged, at that time the voters will feel that they have to decide something”.