For the plan to evacuate Greeks from the region of Lebanon that the Greek government is studying, the extraordinary meeting of the KYSEA in view of the Middle East, the measures against the violence of minors, as well as the telephone invitation of the prime minister to Costas Karamanlis and Antonis Samaras in view of the “blue” birthday on Friday in Rigillis, spoke, among others, to on Wednesday morning the deputy minister to the prime minister and government representative, Pavlos Marinakis.

Initially, Mr. Marinakis reiterated the Greek side’s position that the country condemns Iran’s attack on Israel, which he said constitutes a very serious escalation.

“Obviously we stand by the Israeli people, they have a self-evident right to live in security, but at the same time Greece has a balanced foreign policy and the goal of our actions is de-escalation,” he added, making simultaneous reference to a plan to evacuate Greeks who are in the affected areas. According to the government representative, at the moment there is no request, but if such an issue is raised, it will be presented today by the relevant ministers. “Another topic that will be discussed today is also that of migration flows, without currently there being any present danger. As you understand, Greece, due to its geopolitical position, must be on constant alert.”

At the same time, regarding the statements of Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Israel’s next target will be Turkey, he repeated that “the fact that we are in dialogue with our neighbors does not mean that we also agree with them. One of our main differences with Turkey is also in the Middle East, in terms of what Hamas is and how this situation has started. We have stable allies, from here on all our moves with Erdogan are directed towards the goal of de-escalation”.

Tightening the criminal treatment framework for minors – “No” to lowering the age limit for imprisonment

Then, when asked about the daily phenomena of violence between minors, Pavlos Marinakis pointed out that according to the data, 37 arrests are made every day only for minors, while there are 7,200 cases with almost 9,000 different minor perpetrators, as well as a 200% increase in cases involving the Police have intervened. Accordingly, in domestic violence, from 6,000 incidents we have reached 12,000 within a year. “From all of the above there are two conclusions: on the one hand, that the Police are doing their job well and the state is functioning, on the other hand, that the situation is very serious.”

He also added that criminal justice needs more weapons and tools for better results, for this reason the Ministry of Justice will proceed in cooperation with the Ministry of Citizen Protection to tighten the framework of criminal treatment of minors.

“Let me tell you that in the cabinet a series of proposals were made to the prime minister and he accepted them all, such as, for example, the different treatment of minors in cases of pre-trial detention and the stricter treatment of parents for neglecting minors. Our primary solution should not be repression, that is why the state uses many tools, such as the application for bullying in schools, the new Safe Youth application that will be released in the coming weeks, the support telephone lines”.

At the same time, he clarified that there will still be a differentiation of the criminal framework for minors compared to adults, however a series of exceptions will now be provided for in specific cases, such as in the possession of weapons and the repeated commission of offences, stressing however that ultimately it will not be reduced from 15 to The age limit for juvenile imprisonment is 14 years.

“Whether the two former prime ministers will come to Rigillis is their decision”

Finally, responding to the anniversary event for ND’s 50 years, Mr. Marinakis noted that:

“We celebrated our 50th anniversary with a political conference a few months ago, but as you understand, on our birthday we will also hold an anniversary event at our historic “home” in front of Rigillis. On Friday, with the Prime Minister’s speech and the self-evident invitation of the former presidents and prime ministers, Kostas Karamanlis and Antonis Samaras, we honor the anonymous New Democrat and the anonymous New Democrat. This gathering is for those who for so many years did not ask for anything and fought even in times when it was unpopular to be with the ND”.

He made it clear that whether the two former prime ministers will come is their own decision that they will announce themselves.