Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, participated today via videoconference in the 2nd Democracy Summit, which is jointly hosted by the United States, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, South Korea and Zambia. Mr. Mitsotakis, invited to the meeting by the President of the United States, Joe Bidentook part in the thematic session “Democracy promotes economic growth and shared prosperity”.

Among other things, the Prime Minister emphasized that today the threat to our democratic way of life is perhaps greater than at any time in the past three decades.

“For this reason, we must never hesitate to advance political, personal and economic rights, strengthen democratic institutions and the rule of law, protect accountability, fight corruption and fight for inclusion,” he said.

He added that the deep economic crisis that had hit Greece for much of the last decade had threatened the very fabric of Greek society and weakened its institutions, but noted that this was not the case today.

“In 2019, the Greeks rejected dogma and stood for democratic sustainability and reform., based on a solid legal framework, independent and representative institutions. Over the next four years, my government has prioritized the digitalization of the state, fought corruption, and passed hundreds of laws that modernize our country,” he said, adding:

“Our success lies not in a process of top-down governance, but in the fact that these important reforms belong to well-informed, socially conscious and active citizens who actively participate in an open, tolerant, free, pluralistic and democratic society.”

Mr. Mitsotakis expressed his pride that today Greece is one of the three countries in Europe that have integrated the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals into their annual planning and emphasized that the government will continue to pursue digital reforms, transition and e-governance, facilitating significant direct participation the whole of civil society, as well as giving voice to young and old alike.

It should be noted that Greece was also invited and took part in the 1st session in 2021.

“We have fulfilled our obligations”

Mr. Mitsotakis, in his televised message, also stated that the fulfillment of the government’s commitments formed the basis for his policy, noting that “we have met all of our commitments to the rule of law, accountability, anti-corruption and inclusiveness to improve the quality of our democracy“.

In his message, the Prime Minister further said that the government is working tirelessly to “fight corruption through the National Transparency Authority”. Our work is reflected in the Corruption and Governance Indexes of Transparency International, the World Bank and The Economist, where our rating is constantly improving.”

Finally, he promised that after the upcoming parliamentary elections in our country, the government will continue to work with all concerned bodies and partners, both here in Greece and internationally, “to protect our rules-based system, and with it the future democracy.”

With information from APE-MPE