In view of the crises and challenges our country is facing, “there needs to be a mature political discourse, as the loud protests from the part of the opposition do not befit either our times, or the sentiment and judgment of the Greek citizens”, stressed, inter alia, Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, speaking on Friday night in Parliament, in the debate on the censure motion submitted by the Main Opposition against the Government.
In particular, Mr. Varvitsiotis underlined that natural disasters of unprecedented severity with thousands of victims have occurred in recent years in Germany, France and Belgium and noted that we need to shield our country against climate change in the best possible way. He specifically noted that € 1.7 billion from the Recovery and Resilience Facility will be allocated to policies related to the reinforcement of civil protection and another € 11 billion will be allocated to energy upgrades and climate change reversal policies. He pointed out, in fact, that the Mitsotakis government is a pioneer in this field and has already adopted recommendations of European citizens on environmental issues in the framework of the Conference on the Future of Europe.
Levelling criticism at SYRIZA, the Alternate Minister recalled that the main opposition party voted against all major national agreements, such as the extension of territorial waters, the delimitation of EEZ with Italy and Egypt, the defence agreements with France and the USA, the procurement of the Rafale aircraft and the frigates. “I should not like to think that you are submitting a censure motion against your own failures”, he characteristically said, accusing SYRIZA of “irresponsible opposition tactics”. At the same time, he noted that the Mitsotakis government has managed to turn Greek-Turkish relations into a Euro-Turkish issue, gain unprecedented support during the crisis in Evros, expand the country’s alliances and build the image of a serious, reliable and active European partner who is self-confident and plays a stabilizing role in the region. “Your criticism”, he told SYRIZA MPs, “contradicts not only reason and reality but also the sentiment of the Greek citizens”.
Mr. Varvitsiotis made special mention of the Prime Minister's initiatives regarding the EU Digital COVID Certificate, as well as the Recovery and Resilience Facility, from which Greece benefited more than any other EU country, as it received the highest amount of money per capita. But also in the field of investment, he pointed out that through the channel of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs alone, strategic investments amounting to € 4.8 billion have been included and other investments amounting to € 7 billion are currently being evaluated, while during the tenure of the SYRIZA government all respective investments amounted to € 1.3 billion.
January 29, 2022