At the insistence of the Greek side to limit the use of natural gas, which eventually became the catalyst for the emission of white smoke, Kyriakos Mitsotakis after its completion European Council. “I asked for a single European response to set a limit so that we do not pay more than is necessary to meet our natural gas needs,” the prime minister said, adding that “our argument and the majority of the states that supported convinced the most suspicious and we have an agreement at the European level.” Despite the somewhat positive result of the Council, which the Greek side has been seeking all this time, the Prime Minister stressed that “regardless of interventions, the Greek government will continue to support consumers and businesses against a sharp increase in energy prices.” Regarding the impact on state support, Mr. Mitsotakis stated that “the lower the price of natural gas, the less painful this exercise is for the state budget”, and explained: “It is quite another to have prices of 200-300 euros per megawatt”. hour, from 100 euros per megawatt hour. The markets were convinced that we were serious, they saw that the EU was ready to move in this direction.”

“We keep reserves”

Mr. Mitsotakis seems to be satisfied with the EU decisions, but, addressing Ankara, he noted that it is not Greece that is raising the tone.

Insisting that the actions taken by the Greek government are fully justified, Mr Mitsotakis stressed that his government is “holding reserves” and “we are not going to deviate from the primary deficit target of 1.7% in 2022.” He even cited the example of Great Britain and “how the government of the G7 country was punished.” In this sense, he answered the question whether the government is preparing new measures to support prices for diesel fuel and gasoline. “Here we have not implemented the measures we have announced, which are important, and you keep asking me about new measures. Let’s first implement the measures that we announced in Thessaloniki,” he replied and added that “the increased student allowance is already being implemented this month, energy interventions are ongoing, we have an increased heating allowance, so let’s not rush, I want to emphasize that the course of the energy market is extremely unstable.”

Turkey

On Turkey, Mr. Mitsotakis focused on Ankara’s commercial relationship with Moscow, saying there is “annoyance” to add that sanctions are a matter of discussion and reflection. He continued by noting that “Greece is not raising the bar or challenging the status quo in the region – this is not a Greece that does not abide by the principles of good neighborliness.” Finally, ahead of the visit of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Athens, Mr. Mitsotakis noted that “energy issues and bilateral relations will be discussed, and this is a good opportunity to highlight the great progress that Greece has made and the difficult relationship we had with Germany. belongs to the past,” emphasizing that Germany’s position on the Turkish provocation is clear.