“Honestly speaking, we should have seen the signs much earlier, before the US elections and if you read the Draghi report it is a big red flag about what Europe needs to do to ensure its strategic autonomy and to improve its competitiveness. These recommendations, which are brave, have already been discussed at the level of the European Council and I feel a very nice growing momentum that we are at a certain point where we have to make certain decisions” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis emphasized in the interview he gave to the CNN television network.

“The time has come to move forward”

He then added “for example to spend more on our defence, not only individually as member states, but also collectively possibly. We will be able to create a common European mechanism to supplement our defense budget when self-defense becomes a priority. Will we be able to make the green deal and at the same time tackle the creeping issues of European competitiveness? How will we access cheaper energy? These are questions we have discussed in the past. We have not successfully made decisions, but now is the time to move forward. And the new European Commission and President Mrs von der Leyen rightly recognize that this is the moment for bold action[…]»

Then the journalist Richard Quest said that the point will not be the Commission and that the main thing will be the Council as, as he mentioned, we were talking to Mr. Draghi when he said that the Commission agrees with the proposals they have signed, but the Council and of course the individual member states will be the issue in the implementation of the recommendations of Draghi’s proposals. Are you in favor of these and will you forward them to the Council? then asked mr. Mitsotakis with the prime minister answering “of course and I would like to remind you that four years ago, when we were fighting the pandemic, we created the Next Generation EU recovery fund. Many naysayers thought it wouldn’t happen. But it happened. Why? Because the times demanded it and now we are at a turning point. Some decisions will of course mean that we have to think about common borrowing, common financing, while some other pieces have to do with simplification, or in other words, we will have to overcome objections, such as the capital market at a single level”.

“[…] I am in favor of a holistic approach to the Draghi report. Not just what is convenient for us. This means that some decisions must be made by majority vote. We need to ensure that countries can maintain their objections on critical issues such as foreign policy or defense or security[…].

“The change on the American scene can act as an impetus to address long-standing problems in Europe.”
Asked about the significance of Trump’s election and whether it is the push Europe needs to do something, Mr. Mitsotakis replied “I believe that the crisis was already here and of course some did not want to face it.

Energy, for example, energy prices, the fact that we haven’t fostered an ecosystem of start-ups to harness artificial intelligence, we haven’t invested enough in clean technologies where we can play a leadership role. The alarm was ringing very loudly, even before the US election. I think that this change in the American scene can act as an impetus to address the creeping problems that have been there for a long time, but unfortunately we have chosen to ignore[…]” underlined Mr. Mitsotakis.

“I am privileged to represent a country that has achieved an admirable recovery”

To the question if he thinks he will take a leadership role at an informal level, so that there are coalitions of agreements within Europe, Kyriakos Mitsotakis answered “I am one of the few members of the Council who has worked with President Trump. I am experienced enough to understand how the Council works and I feel privileged to represent a country which has achieved an admirable recovery. If you consider that now many countries are facing fiscal issues, you mentioned some, but Greece will have primary surpluses.
Greece is a country that reduces taxes, unlike others. There are other countries where we see a problem in manufacturing. Not in Greece. So I believe that we come to the table with our house in order.”

“Experiment of a museum” the subway of Thessaloniki

“We have an experiment of a museum, passengers can admire a museum when they travel by metro in Thessaloniki” pointed out Kyriakos Mitsotakis in the second part of his interview.

“It is a project that many believed would not be done, in the end it turned out that they were wrong,” he said, among other things.

Referring to social media regulation, he said: “We want verification technologies”, while the Greek Prime Minister underlined that in Greece the use of mobile phones is prohibited in schools, in order to protect minors.