PM Mitsotakis at book presentation: Greece is in the frontlines of the EU’s hard core today

The European Union “has proven several times that we can manage together better, that as a whole we are stronger than the sum of or parts,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Monday evening, delivering the keynote address at the presentation of the book “European Unification: The adventures of a dream” written by journalist Dimitris Tsiodras, head of the PM’s press office.

At the event at the Athens Concert Hall (Megaro), Mitsotakis added, “Despite the delays, despite the compromises, the European family is now doubly necessary as a safety net for citizens and as a common path for the progress of states.” It is enough for one to contemplate the developments of recent years in order to understand how much harder it would be for states, even strong ones, to manage problems by themselves.

Greece now walks this path on the front lines, not taking up the rear, in economic development. “We have become leading actors in the EU’s hard core. Our country introduced solutions that resulted in practical convergence,” he noted. Following the coronavirus pandemic and after a difficult five-day negotiation in the summer of 2020, the government of New Democracy brought to Greece additional funds totalling 36 billion euros for the country’s productivity restructure. It also officially established that Greek borders were also European ones, gradually shifting Europe’s approach on the migration issue.

Commenting on the latest farmers’ protests over high prices, Mitsotakis said the government managed to retain for Greece the same Common Agricultural Policy funding when funds were reduced for other countries. “I personally did this negotiation. It was the European People’s Party that managed to set some limits to occasional excessive demands and proposals by the leftists and the socialists – for all those that European farmers are mostly protesting about. Green transition is necessary, but must be carried out with caution,” the premier added.

The Greek PM also highlighted the importance of Greek European Parliament elections in June as being special for Europe in general. These elections “will call on to promote at the Europarliament as well the political alliances and new Eurodeputies who can coordinate their pacing with the uncharted future. There are not ballot boxes lending themselves to the dispatch of cheap protest messages.” On the contrary, the Euroelections “will signal whether Europe is in a position to speed up its growth rates the day after, and whether new alliances of common logic will be formed,” he said.

New Democracy’s policy of multilevel modernization, he said, “aims at the real convergence of Greece with Europe and at maintaining it in the heart of Europe and the center of significant European decision-making,” which is what Tsiodras’ book also serves.

The author of the book, Tsiodras, holds a BA in political science from the National University of Athens, and an MA in international relations from Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He has worked for several media outlets (newspaper, television, and radio), and has served as spokesman of the political party To Potami.

Mitsotakis’ speech was scheduled to be followed by a discussion with former Greek European Commissioners Dimitris Avramopoulos, Maria Damanaki, Anna Diamantopoulou, and Stavros Dimas. The president of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly, Theodoros Rousopoulos, was also scheduled to make statements. The event is coordinated by the PM’s advisor on international issues, Aristotelia Peloni.

PM #Mitsotakis at book presentation: Greece is in the frontlines of the EU’s hard core todayhttps://t.co/BIMHE4Fr18 pic.twitter.com/B0b9bIsrfn

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