Alexis Tsipras answers a topical question about accuracy from the parliament hall Kyriakos Mitsotakisduring the Prime Minister’s Hour.

Condolences to Alexandros Nikolaidis

The Prime Minister began his reply by referring to death of Olympian and deputy spokesman for SYRIZA Alexandros Nikolaidis.

“Today is a sad day and I would like to express my sadness. I express the pain of all of us because of such a cruel loss of Alexandros Nikolaidis,” he said and added: “He was a champion of life, he gave it meaning even with the words that he left us when he left. My sincere condolences on behalf of the ND to his own people and the party he has always served.”

“Russia for accuracy in fuel”

“I wanted to come to the parliament today to have an opportunity to clarify the truth and falsehood before the Greek people. The paradox of this meeting is that we fundamentally do not disagree in the conclusions,” Mr. Mitsotakis stressed.

“Indeed, despite bold interventions, electricity bills remain high, business operations are getting tighter, citizens are experiencing and worrying about a difficult winter,” the prime minister said.

However, he added that: “However, with SYRIZA, we see causes and responses differently. I apologize that in a one-page text, in Mr. Tsipras’ topical question, you were able to fit three arbitrary conclusions that lead to two uncomfortable questions. They declare either dangerous ignorance or dangerous intentions with omnipresent catastrophism. With the absent. You have not found a single word to name the first culprit of this global inflationary onslaught, the Russian invasion of Ukraine.”

“You told us that this global price spike was not due to brutal extortion by Russia,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis later said.

You forgot all this. You didn’t say anything. I would expect at the very least, albeit belatedly, not again emotional declarations of peace, in general, equalizing the aggressor with the defender, I would have expected an unequivocal condemnation. Recognize that your closest creditor in 2015 is an enemy of democracy and a danger to the stability and progress of nations. Precision has a name, and that is Russia’s predatory use of fossil fuels as an asymmetric weapon against Europe.”

“SYRIZA Lies About Energy Accuracy”

“Governments should quickly build their own energy path to cheaper and cleaner renewable energy sources, move away from dependence on unpredictable and, as it turns out, dangerous suppliers,” the Prime Minister continued in his speech, stressing that it is very important that the latest on Friday For the first time in a few hours, all the energy consumed in Greece was produced by RES.

“I was talking about three arbitrary claims by the leader of SYRIZA who are falsifying data about Greece. Our country is not the first either in terms of inflation or energy efficiency,” the Prime Minister said.

And he added: “The truth is that yes, in Greece, inflation is slightly higher, 12%, than the European average, but there are quite a few countries above 15%. In a big storm, our country is protected in the best way: measures and income support. For 2022 alone, the support package is around 13 billion euros. You talked about energy, you imagined that Greece has the most expensive energy in Europe. Let’s look at the absolute facts. Including VAT, in September 2022 Athens 23.23 cents per kilowatt hour. Madrid, 42, and the infamous Iberian model you advertise. These are the real prices paid by Greek consumers. Stop lying and falsifying the truth. Thanks to the subsidies we provide, energy costs are significantly lower than the European average.”

Receipts of 2.7 billion from excess profits of energy producers

“You told us again that we don’t want to tax producer surpluses and that we are leaving speculation unchecked when I first talked about taxing 90% of surpluses until July 2022, with certain revenues based on RAE calculations,” Kyriakos then pointed out. Mitsotakis. .

“Our country has launched a national mechanism for restoring current income. In three months we collected 2.7 billion. This mechanism is a national success because this model has been adopted by the EU and the European Commission and is becoming mandatory for all European countries,” the Prime Minister stressed.

In addition, he said: “I first raised this issue in the European Council and the European Commission is convinced that there will be a clear provision for the taxation of refinery surpluses, and this was the Greek proposal. All citizens know that the state spends a significant amount to subsidize a large part of the increase in the cost of electricity.”

“Contextual advertising cleared”

“Today, all Greek households are subsidized through the excess income recovery mechanism,” added Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

And he continued: “Let’s talk about another beautiful myth that SYRIZA insists on using as a magical solution. I mean the myth about the renationalization of the checkpoint. You also often drew analogies with cases of forced rescue.”

“The CPT, thank God, does not need the financial assistance that we did when we received it from your own government. Accumulated losses of 1.7 billion euros in 2019. PPC capitalization was 400 million. We have changed the way we manage it, it has been cleared and its value is a multiple. If it were left alone, it would not be called CPR, but NOT, because it could not exist with your own policies. And, of course, the state still controls the checkpoint. The nationalization of the checkpoint, if there was a way to do it, would cost 34%, today it costs 680 million, i.e. 4 times what your 51% was worth in 2019. What exactly are you asking us about? Harm society? Will your friend Mr. Dimopoulos return?

“We are not going to lead the country to a fiscal collapse”

“Not once have I or any government official claimed to have found a magic solution. But we are trying to limit the sharp negative consequences of this global crisis as fairly as possible and we are doing this with targeted measures without depleting our national resources,” the Prime Minister stressed.

“The country is defending and advancing at the same time. I spoke at length about the cost of energy issues. Let me remind you that we have already returned 300 million euros to consumers, covering large increases, we have introduced a fuel pass, farmers have received support,” he continued and added: “We are the party of the broad social majority. We are not the party of the few, we are the party of the many. We have implemented one of the three largest community support programs in Europe.”

As the prime minister explained, “2/3 of the aid comes from energy companies, 1/3 from the state budget. If there are distortions in how companies set prices, we have the ability to detect them and generate additional revenue. It is dynamic growth that gives us the weapons to support businesses and households. No country has unlimited fiscal potential. We are not going to lead the country to a fiscal collapse, this chapter is closed forever. The solutions you offer lead us there. If you ever went ahead with your plan, the country would be bankrupt within a month. This will not happen, because the Greek people will again trust the NA, and therefore you can safely say whatever you want. You, Mr. Tsipras, have imposed new taxes on the bourgeoisie. I expect you will now be able to distinguish between taxes and income.

Window for new intervention in diesel prices

“Inflation cannot be answered with slogans”

“I will not repeat in detail the state planning that was announced at TIF. What I will say is that in a very complex reality, reasonable answers are needed, and, of course, inflation cannot be answered with inflationary slogans,” the Prime Minister continued.

Furthermore, he said: “It is also unbelievable that in Greece a product can have a predetermined price when it is produced in the world. For several months now, there has been a ceiling on the gross profit of enterprises from sales of almost all vital goods and services.”

“Greece Resists Accuracy”

“Tell me when there were more inspections in Greece than in recent years,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis asked, referring to Alexis Tsipras, adding: “According to the inspections, 1 in 10 is illegal, and this shows that the market as a whole is not sown with speculation . Control will be strengthened. The household basket that you hurried to sort out is similar to the one that is being launched in many European countries.”

“The quintessence of populism is to offer simple solutions to complex problems,” continued Kyriakos Mitsotakis. “Such irresponsible proposals for horizontal tax cuts should not be spread. These measures are not always effective,” he said, and explained that “these are unfair measures because they reward high consumption more and are extremely costly to the national budget.”

“The government’s policy is targeted measures within the limits of the republican budget,” he continued, addressing the chairman of the official opposition.

“Your proposals, Mr. Tsipras, will cost more than 5 billion euros. Tell me who you will tax to find this money and cover up this black hole. You said that interest rates have gone up. Shut up. All over the world they are increasing. And it’s Mitsotakis’ fault, right? Not central banks doing the same?

“Seriousness is required and it would be good to avoid risk because you have missed all your forecasts for the last 18 months,” the prime minister continued.

“What did Mr. Tsakalotos say in May 2020? Forecast of 5.1% growth in 2021 is groundless, how did it end? 8.2%. You made allowances for the unemployed, and unemployment fell. You did not foresee that our debt with the end of the pandemic will exceed 200% and will not go down. Achieve the fastest debt reduction in Europe. Great job! You hit everything.”

“Reality is different, SYRIZA is different. Greece moves forward without looking back, resists precision, recognizes great difficulties, puts forward a number of European initiatives, defends our national positions, welcomes investments and major projects. At today’s meeting, finally, there was no question, but only the answer given by the citizens of Greece. Despite the fact that they are being tested, they feel that the state is on their side,” he said, concluding his speech to parliament in the context of the discussion of the topical issue introduced by Alexis Tsipras.

With information from APE-MPE