Mitsotakis: Cyprus,fifty years after the tragedy of ’74, does not make sense to remain divided

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in his weekly review on Facebook on Sunday referred to the Cyprus issue. ““Good morning to all. In these days and hours, Hellenism everywhere in the world remembers Cyprus wound that has remained open and painful for half a century. As I also told President Erdogan during our recent meeting in Washington, Cyprus, a member state of the EU, fifty years after the tragedy of ’74, does not make sense to remain divided. It is our wish and hope that the two communities will take advantage of the new opportunity presented and sit at the table to find a solution within the framework of the UN resolutions, under the inviolable condition that any agreement will recognise one sovereignty, a citizenship, an international personality. In this effort, our Cypriot brothers have the support and support of Greece”, the prime minister underlined.

He also referred to the government’s new intervention to ease the electricity rates. “We have decided to impose for the next two months an extraordinary fee on natural gas electricity producers – its amount will be determined at the end of July – and to use these revenues to subsidise those who are contracted to green and yellow tariffs, without exception of the first and second residence, in the first phase for the month of August. I remind you that we have already allocated over 10 billion euros during the times of the large increase in electricity prices and that the Greek mechanism for retaining surplus profits became a European policy”, Mitsotakis said adding that “we will continue to fight and at European level to make the single energy market fairer and more competitive. Whereas, with a regulation that is already being voted in the parliament, we will tax the surplus profits of the refineries in 2023 and the respectable amount that results, around 300 million euros, will be given to support low-income pensioners who did not see an increase in their pension, because they are still burdened with personal difference”.

Regarding the economy, Mitsotakis said that among the good news of the week was the new upgrade of the Greek state’s debt from stable to positive by the rating agency Scope Ratings, following the corresponding upgrade by Standard & Poor’s last April. “Scope’s report highlights the rapid reduction of public debt, the achievement of strong surpluses, the reduction of non-performing loans combined with disinvestment from systemic banks and the adoption of structural reforms that strengthen the resilience and growth dynamics of the economy”, points out while saying that the establishment of the 5th banking pillar will also work in this direction, after the merger of Attica Bank and Pancretan Bank. The problems faced by the two credit institutions were numerous and threatening their continued existence. The solution reached was optimal, as it neutralises the risk of their possible collapse, ensures depositors and businesses by protecting the value of the public participation in one of them. Furthermore, the formation of the new strong banking pillar, as the governor of the Bank of Greece pointed out, will strengthen competition with a positive effect on the cost and quality of banking services and will contribute to the reduction of non-performing loans. The agreement for the increase of Attica Bank’s share capital and its merger with Pancretan Bank will be submitted to the Parliament for ratification”, he underlined.

He also mentioned the positive course of the sizes of the Greek labour market, which is officially recognised by the OECD.