“Yes” to the “further increase of the available intensive care beds and for inclusion in the system of private clinics and private doctors”, but “no” to the extension of the obligation, says, in an interview with ethnos.gr., The Minister of State George Gerapetritis, which calls – and he – a call for vaccination to those who have not yet done so.
Starting from the “war” against the pandemic, the Minister of State assures that “we will ensure a further increase in the available intensive care beds and integration into the system of private clinics and private doctors”. At the same time, he points out that “there will be no universal horizontal bans, because such a thing would be unfair to our fellow citizens who have been vaccinated and have every right to demand to continue their normal lives. “Small-scale interventions could possibly be evaluated, but we must understand that now, no measures are able to fight the virus effectively, except for the vaccine.”
For the vaccine in particular, he characterizes as “encouraging” the fact that the response of the citizens to the call for vaccine, either first or commemorative dose, “seems to find a great response with a fivefold increase in new appointments. We will not tire of saying it: The vaccine protects us 20 times more than serious illness and death and creates a shield to protect our loved ones “.
Asked about the extension of the mandatory measure, he replied that “the large-scale extension of the mandatory vaccination, beyond possible constitutional issues, is not the preferred solution for pandemic management. This is because, it is doubtful the substantial additional benefit that it would bring to the creation of immunity in the population, while it will always leave significant parts of the population out of obligation. “It is no coincidence that no country in the world has imposed this measure in general.”
In the field of economy, the Minister of State states that “the ten-year economic crisis and the ongoing health crisis have, I believe, significantly changed the worldview of the majority of citizens, who no longer want bankrupt policies of inexpensive care and invertebrate clientele.” He quotes, in the continuation of his answer, a series of data on the state of the Greek economy: “Indeed, the economic indicators today seem to be going very satisfactorily. In the second quarter of 2021, GDP grew by 16.2%, we have the highest rate of unemployment in Europe, exports and industrial production increased significantly, deposits during the pandemic increased by about 30 billion euros, with the “As far as household deposits are concerned, non-performing loans declined dramatically with the implementation of our second-chance policy and the actual disposable wage increased from 365 to 1,615 euros, due to the significant reduction in taxation and insurance contributions.”
“Once the targets for this year are met, we will take careful steps to distribute the new wealth fairly,” he said, noting that “the prime minister has already announced a second minimum wage increase for 2022, a subsidy for farmers.” for the commercial oil they use, while there will be an extension of tax cuts, non-payment of solidarity contribution to the private sector and the reduction of insurance contributions by 3 percentage points “.
To the constant question, whether 2022 could be an election year, G. Gerapetritis says that “the government today enjoys a unique, for the data of the change of government, trust of the electorate, without discounts in relation to its pre-election commitments. Announcing elections would only make sense to capitalize on this confidence. However, it is not in the genome of the current parliamentary majority to derive temporary political benefits, which would have the potential to stop the development and restoration of the international prestige of the country that has been launched. “As the Prime Minister has repeatedly stressed, the elections will take place at the constitutionally provided end time of the parliamentary term”, he notes with emphasis.
Regarding Greek-Turkish, he states that “it is not easy for a country with hegemonic complacency, such as Turkey, to accept that Greece has been reduced to the strongest regional pole in the Eastern Mediterranean, with the multilateral alliances it has developed, such as France and the United States, the development of international initiatives, as happened with the Athens Declaration on Climate Change and the Environment and the Med9 Declaration, and the settlement of chronic international issues, such as Egypt and Italy. The international upgrade of the country will continue. “Greece finally has a government characterized by its extroversion and a prime minister who stands excellently in international fora and is recognized as a strong political figure in Europe and the world.”
Finally, regarding the relations with Northern Macedonia, he notes that the Greek government does not interfere in its internal affairs, but “closely monitors the implementation of the Prespa Treaty. This Treaty, despite its inherent problems that had emerged in time, is an international obligation of both countries since its ratification, and therefore Greece will not tolerate negative unilateral actions on the part of the contracting party. For this reason, moreover, the memoranda provided by the Treaty have not yet been ratified in Parliament “.
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