PRINT EDITION. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke at length about the economy in an interview he gave to Bloomberg while attending the COP27 International Climate Conference in Egypt. “We have only succeeded because we have combined strong growth with prudent fiscal policy,” he said, adding that “the economy is performing better than expected, with growth close to 6% this year. This is also the reason the prime minister said the government has the fiscal capacity to support citizens, adding that “we are probably the only country that has been able to recycle profits from energy producers to support our citizens” by taxing 90% of the excess profits of electricity producers for the first half of 2022.

Mr. Mitsotakis also mentioned the US midterm elections. Asked by a Bloomberg reporter about the impact of possible changes in the US, Kyriakos Mitsotakis replied: “Relations between the US and Greece are in a very good state. Greece is a strategic partner for the US in a very important and difficult part of the world, and I don’t believe that will change.”

Regarding the issue of surveillance, Mr. Mitsotakis again denied the publication of Documento, noting that what was written is not true. “I have made it clear that the recent publication that was published in Greece is absolutely false,” he said and moved on to the topic. “Recognizing that in Europe we have a problem with illegal malware, and this is not only a Greek problem, we have seen it in many European countries and we need European regulation to solve this problem, Greece will be the first country, Europe, to next month will ban all illegal malware that can be sold in Greece. So we have to turn this real problem into an opportunity,” he said.

Government spokesman Yannis Oikonomou also mentioned the problem of wiretapping. Speaking on SKAI radio, he reiterated that there is no evidence that “the prime minister is following the foreign minister, government ministers, people he has been working with for 15-20 years, and their wives, businessmen and everyone else.” However, he did not deny that Predator, Pegasus and other malicious programs were used throughout Europe and the same could happen in our country. “The government has an obligation to do everything in its power to clarify and clarify this case,” he said, adding that an open judicial investigation is underway, which has given directions and instructions to the competent authorities, as far as possible from their duties, see what is happening . However, he concluded that “this is not an investigation that could easily end up somewhere.”