The government representative, Pavlos Marinakis, speaking to OPEN and referring to his own candidacy in the next national elections, he noted that

“The cross is the most important thing, because at the end of the day, the only one who is competent to judge is the Greek people”, emphasized the government representative Pavlos Marinakis in a televised interview, on the occasion of his own candidacy in the next national elections elections.

Speaking to OPEN, Mr. Marinakis also mentioned his issue Turkaegean, pointing out that the cycle of populism and opposition without concrete data will unfortunately never close, as it seems. He stated that the issue of Turkaegean was very serious, that Adonis Georgiadis started it, the Industrial Property Organization continued it and it was completed during the days of Takis Theodorikakos. “Immediately, within a few days we moved to challenge this mark at the European Intellectual Property Organization and beyond. It has also been attacked in other major markets and decisions are expected immediately. I heard one of the opposition representatives say earlier that if you didn’t do that, you would have a dereliction of duty issue. The appeal was a given. Indeed, it was a given, but it alone is not enough,” he added.

Mr. Marinakis emphasized that the decision came from European Intellectual Property Organization and it is a great justification for this country and it can be used as a jurisprudence and in other proceedings, while it concerns commercial use, use in public transport, in advertising, in education.

“It cancels a mark that was clearly abusive, offensive and against the law. So this is a success of the services, of the lawyers who participated and were selected by the Organization and the Ministry of Development and it is a success of Greece. It is neither of the government alone, nor of the ND. It is a success of the country and it is a legacy. So when the opposition comes and says “yes, but two years…” here the question is one and simple: “What else are you going to do?” Would you go and withdraw it by force? Would you bypass European jurisdictions? Because in this country at some point we have to learn to talk seriously. And I refer to my political opponents”, he added.

Asked if there was any surprise, the government spokesman said the country respects it International Law and that the government is trying to elevate Greece at all levels. “Against seriousness and efficiency, we see absolute populism, which leads nowhere,” he added.

On the occasion of Greek-Turkish relations, after yesterday’s statement by Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Pavlos Marinakis underlined that with the neighboring country we have only one dispute to resolve in International Law and in order to reach the point of resolving it, a co-promissory note must be signed.

“Greece would sign a co-promissory note only for this one and only difference, the determination of the EEZ and continental shelf. It is something that all Greek governments have supported over the years, zero prime minister excluded, it is something that this government also supports. This is something that does not change, whatever the position of the other side. There is also another fact: That this prolonged period of dialogue with Turkey has benefited, not harmed and certainly not harmed the country. Because this government perceives the dialogue as an opportunity to claim and not – in any case – as even a hint of retreat. We will continue to follow this logic. Trying through this process to defend the Greek positions without any, even a hint, of negotiating red lines, to strengthen the country, to be effective in the management of immigration, to continue to have zero violations, something very important for the Armed Forces of the country . Because whenever there is a period like this, the ones who struggle are not the ones sitting on the couch, but the men and women of the Armed Forces. It is the islanders who are being harmed by an immigration management that has reached flows that are now down by 85% as asylum seekers five years ago,” he said.

He also said that Turkey’s complaints about Western Thrace and the “Turkish minority”, in addition to being ahistorical, are clearly against International Law and are not recognized by any serious state. He also pointed out that Greece has succeeded and has made Greek positions European positions. Recalling that some people said that Kyriakos Mitsotakis should not meet Tayyip Erdogan and then the Turkish President had referred “to the supposed, non-existent and historically and legally non-existent, ‘Turkish minority’, which does not exist”. Mr. Marinakis said that the Greek Prime Minister then replied that it was a Muslim minority without any retort from the Turkish President, because the truth is clear. “Historical truth and legal truth based on International Law. Those who claim that Mitsotakis should not meet Erdogan, what are they actually saying? To hear something that is not true, something that is offensive to History and to our country, without an answer. Dialogue, I repeat, means assertion. Dialogue does not mean retreat and at the end of the day we are all judged by the result”, he said.

Regarding the presidential election, Mr. Marinakis stated that he is not connected to the regular meeting of the Prime Minister with the President of the Republic next Wednesday. He also said that we have reached the second fortnight of January that Kyriakos Mitsotakis had announced that he would make announcements, and that the time of the announcement actually starts from Wednesday. “Any day from Wednesday is possible,” he continued, underlining that Ms. Sakellaropoulou is the President of the Republic whom we all respect and who fulfills her role with great dignity. “It is a given that with the absolute respect for the institutions, which the prime minister has shown so far, he will also show it in all the prescribed procedures. I don’t know whether or not it will be Mrs. Sakellaropoulou again – and know something: everything that is being written and everything that we are reading at the moment, are just scenarios.” He also said that he does not know if he has “locked” in the prime minister’s mind the person he will choose. He also mentioned that a person can be unifying, whether he belongs to the center-left, whether he belongs to the center, or to the center-right.

“It is a given that this decision will be justified by the prime minister and I think he will answer all our questions. What has been written and what has been heard so far is completely theoretical, no one other than the Prime Minister knows, I cannot know if the final decision has been made. I can tell you, however, that institutionally everything will be done as it should be and everything will move according to the strategy of the government and the prime minister, our country will continue to grow” he added. “Unity and consensus do not belong monopolistically to any politician, to any political space” as “there are unifying persons in all political spaces”.

For the name of Mr. Venizelou who sounds like he has fallen on the table, stated that “what you are reading is just a theory, a scenario, the reality is the one that will be announced by the prime minister” while noting that it is not his position to evaluate people.

Referring to battle with accuracythe government spokesman stated that this government is the first to create a control mechanism, that more than 90,000 controls have been carried out and 33 million fines have been imposed. euro. “Tackling oligopolies, profiteering, virtual discounts, all of this, from theory must be put into practice,” he stressed, while regarding health insurance premiums, he said that it is important to see the broader philosophy followed by the government and the banks, with effective measures and not with firework measures.

Especially for the banks, he noted that these were not the first measures taken and they were not limited only to excessive charges for citizens, but at the same time measures were also taken, such as e.g. the one with the properties of the banks that touch the mortgage. “Our first task is to deal with the phenomena of profiteering and the second – but also important – is to prevent the insurance companies from going bankrupt. Because if the insurance companies “burst”, who will suffer the most? The insured, those who have given their money, continue to give it every year”, he noted. Mr. Marinakis mentioned that since 2011 we have had reductions in contracts by 400,000, which is bad for insurance companies, but also for the insured – and this is where the state will come to make a reasonable intervention.

For the electricity pricesnoted that Greece has given the largest subsidies and at the retail level cheaper electricity than the European average.

“The difference between the government and the opposition, zero party excepted, is that the government provides solutions to the many problems that still exist. And the opposition is trying to play a game that reminds me of the one we used to play in primary school “I said it first”. It doesn’t matter who says it first,” he added, among other things.

For the burial feeMr. Marinakis stated that there is a plan that the Ministry of the Interior is working on together with the Region and the municipalities.

“There is no question of anyone becoming a car driver. The position of both the regional governor and the mayors is too important to have such a role, alas! And they make a great effort in this matter. So here, the goal is to ensure the sustainability of the municipalities, but also to advance a policy that is a European obligation of the country. There will be a decision by the Ministry of the Interior that will balance between these needs, and so that the municipalities do not have a financial issue, but also to advance this obligation of the country, as in recycling”, he noted.