Kyriakos Mitsotakis, when asked about the choice of the two former Prime Ministers of New Democracy, Costas Karamanlis and Antonis Samaras, not to attend the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the founding of the party, stated that he had fulfilled his duty, adding that “I am the last to judge.”

In particular, the prime minister speaking to Mega in a related question stated “I did my duty, I called them personally. From here on I will repeat that today is dedicated not to the leaders, not to the acting prime ministers, but to the simple new democrat. And I think that a day of celebration and joy is a day of unity for the faction and that’s how we will remember it.”

“Does everyone have to be at this feast? They will judge that … I am the last one to judge. As I told you, I did my duty,” he noted.

“I think we have every reason today to celebrate this day, we will have a nice event in Rigillis. This day belongs to the new democrats to our friends to the old fighters to our new co-fighters who joined us.”

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, referring to ND’s 50 years, said that the ruling party remains the largest and most stable faction in the country. “We are the only party that has finally endured and strengthened because we stayed true to the values ​​of our founder and had the ability to adapt to the changing times. If Constantinos Karamanlis taught us anything, it is that the ND is the faction of realism and pragmatism and against populism throughout time,” Mr. Mitsotakis emphasized. He also recalled a statement by Constantinos Karamanlis in an interview in which he said that he is not right-wing, centrist or left-wing but progressive and noted “this adaptability of the ND and the possibility of being a large, spacious faction we honor today”.

Asked about the most important achievements of the ND, he said that “Constantinos Karamanlis and our faction are credited with the smooth transition to democracy, the legalization of the KKE, the advanced Constitution, the choice to join the European family”. He added that the ND throughout its journey, served these principles consistently and taking on when necessary the political cost of its choices. He added that in the years that he has been at the helm, he has implemented the commitments for which he was elected president of the ND, opening up the party and bringing in new executives.

“Konstantinos Karamanlis tried above all to attract the best executives to politics, regardless of their political origins. The mandate we received was to cover the lost ground and cure the causes of the pathologies that led us to the crisis. We have every reason to celebrate. We’re going to have a nice little event in Rigillis. The day belongs to the New Democrats,” he noted.

Regarding the path of the ND from now on, he said that the goal is the implementation of the government program, the observance of the pre-election commitments, the continuation of the reforms, the policies that emphasize the growth and improvement of wages, the legitimacy everywhere. “We are here to make the big changes, not to make small fixes. This is the policy I serve and this is what ND will serve”, he underlined.

When asked about the mistakes made by ND, he said that today is not a day for self-criticism but a day of joy and celebration. He added that the ND has been judged by the citizens and has proven that it can accept victories and defeats with dignity and self-confidence. She has learned, she said, to draw strength from her defeats and momentum from her victories.

The prime minister reiterated that the elections will be held at the end of the four-year term and when asked whether the ND will move to the center or to the right, he said that this debate is outdated.

“Labels that move in the area of ​​ideological references of the past have no place in today’s ND. Our policies serve the many. We were able to bring together fellow citizens who had not voted for us before, and I was drafted in a way that allowed us to reach unprecedented percentages. This question might have made sense two decades ago. We are a center-right party. We shouldn’t all agree on everything, but the many should agree on a lot,” he said.

For the parties to the right of the ND, Mr. Mitsotakis said that it is not something new but a reality that has existed for at least a decade. The prime minister mentioned, among other things, that today compared to 5 years ago, Greece is stronger, has a much more armored Armed Forces, protects its borders effectively. “We consider that we serve the policy of responsible patriotism,” he pointed out.

Asked if there is an intra-party opposition of MPs as the ND is leading by a large margin from the second party, the prime minister initially said that this large distance between the first and second party may also be due to the policy implemented by the government.

“Possibly we deprived other parties of vital space”, he said and noted that when you govern for the 2nd four-year term and are in the 6th year of prime ministerial duties, it is reasonable to have increased expectations. “And of course in an environment where there is no strong opposition, the government absorbs all the shocks. Those who imagine that ND has issues of cohesion or unity are deeply laughed at. Since we became government, MPs have tabled over 6,000 questions. I didn’t see them becoming an issue. A shame because some actually highlight issues that should be brought to the attention of the ministers who respond. This is the job of MPs. Don’t imagine more than what some might want to see in a process that is the current parliamentary process,” he said.

He also said that everything is a matter of everyday life. Regarding red loans, he said that there is a private debt management framework that protects our fellow citizens and enables regulation, while he noted that more than 20,000 regulations were made in the out-of-court settlement. He also referred to the red loans of the agricultural cooperatives that the government is coming to solve, while regarding the question regarding the pharmaceutical expenditure, he said that it is a reasonable issue that the government is studying and has asked the relevant ministries to cost it.

He stated that he always sees MPs as it is an opportunity to highlight local issues and referred to his visit to Evros yesterday where he said that he spoke last after listening to everyone.

Regarding developments in the Middle East, he said that Greece is a factor of stability in a particularly unstable region. He said that we are a country that talks with all the parties involved in terms of credibility and stressed that there should be no further escalation of the conflict. “I’m afraid it might happen,” he continued while referring to both Iran’s attack on Israel with 200 ballistic missiles and the cold-blooded killing of a 26-year-old Greek man in a terrorist attack. “Israel obviously has a right to defend itself. I appeal that this reaction, which is expected and to some extent justified, does not lead to further escalation”, he noted while repeating that there can be no sustainable and permanent solution if we do not have a solution in the logic of the two states.

Regarding Greek-Turkish relations, the prime minister said that The Hague is not close and that it has never been close. He said that we want to investigate those parameters in order to enter into the essential discussion about our one difference, the delimitation of the EEZ and continental shelf. We are creating the conditions to get to the heart of the debate, he said and said that this is a problem that no government has been able to solve for 40 years and if we solved it it would bring great strategic benefit. “Greece will not accept any solution for the sake of the solution”, he emphasized while saying that the Athens declaration says “let’s solve our problems based on international law”. The prime minister added that the Turkish President at the UN, for the Greek-Turkish issue, said that he wants a demarcation in the Eastern Mediterranean based on international law, while for the Cyprus issue, he “repeated fixed positions, completely unacceptable that not only Greece, but also Cyprus and the UN cannot to accept”.

Mr. Mitsotakis also said that the improvement of Greek-Turkish relations helps to solve the Cyprus problem and that Greece played a decisive role for the tripartite meeting in October in New York with Mr. Christodoulidis and Mr. Tatar.

Referring to the policies that underline the goal of legality everywhere, Mr. Mitsotakis talked about the image today in the stadiums, the panic button that has saved women’s lives, tax compliance and Traffic issues where he said that the next big battle is the helmet as it does not the country becomes the champion in head injuries from traffic accidents with two-wheelers.

Regarding juvenile violence, he said that the phenomenon is universal and is not unrelated to the mental health problems faced by children and adolescents. He pointed out that he devoted a large part of his speech at the UN to the issue while announcing initiatives at the European level as well, asking for the cooperation of both parents and teachers and children. “Parents have responsibilities. The state cannot replace the parent,” he said, among other things.

In fact, he said that food inflation is decelerating, estimated that the price of oil will fall and emphasized that the government’s goal is the permanent improvement of disposable income and that is why it continues to reduce taxes.

He also referred to the new European rules that have spending ceilings and emphasized that whoever proposes an increase in spending in fields A should say whether they will cut from field B.

The prime minister also spoke about high rents and the housing problem. He referred to the “My Home 2” program and the programs for the renovation of houses, as well as the government’s premium for students’ cohabitation.

Regarding the person he will support for the presidential election, he said he will announce it at the beginning of 2025, as required by the Constitution, at the end of the President’s term. “All this talk is borderline insulting to the country’s first citizen,” he said.

When asked if the person will be from the Right or the Center, he answered that “it is important that the President can always have supra-party characteristics”. And he added: “The current President was voted in by a very large majority by the Parliament. I don’t think that the spirit of the Constitution is to choose a President who has only purely party and not institutional characteristics”.