“We are the faction that must fight the battle of ideas together and on the eve of the elections, always and regardless of the elections. I am here, in the present, with you. With my soul, with my conscience and with my country as my compass. The present, for the great stakes of History. Where will we defeat them? A gift for our great faction, to whom we owe a lot. A gift for our Greece, to which we owe everything,” said Antonis Samaras at the founding ceremony of the Foundation that bears his name, in the presence of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, former Prime Ministers Kostas Karamanlis, Loukas Papadimos and P. Pikramenou, ministers, deputies and ND officials.

“For my part, I was and still am a struggling politician. All this is politics,” the former prime minister said, stressing that New Democracy is “a faction that guarantees political stability and protects the country from any national threat.”

Mr. Samaras said that the battle of ideas has always been critical, but now it is becoming much more urgent because Western civilization as a whole is under attack, which openly seeks to destroy it.

The former prime minister touched on a number of issues:

Regarding immigration, he said “we obviously accept real refugees and legal immigrants”, but “we don’t accept the modern slave trade”. In the same context, he accused Turkey of using instrumental illegal immigrants to the detriment of both Greece and Europe.

“We admire the Ukrainians who are stubbornly fighting for their Motherland. They are doing very well. Are we for our country? Do we always return? Obviously, we condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. And for Turkey, which has been invading Cyprus for fifty years, is there nothing to talk about? Why is anyone who dares to do this called a “nationalist”? This is uncharacteristic and unforgivable. I tell you that when the Golden Dawn committed a crime, I sent her to justice in chains. And from there they ended up in jail! Straight talk: it’s one thing to hate neo-Nazis, another thing is patriotism,” he said elsewhere in his speech.

“I won’t forget when the troika told me to transfer all the wealth of the country to the super fund. I didn’t accept it. But, unfortunately, some others accepted it later,” he added, referring also to Europe’s dependence on Russian natural gas. “Europe without a compass, without a rudder, without leadership,” he said, among other things, and noted that Turkey, despite being a member of NATO, is more supportive of Putin.

The former prime minister spoke of “an unprecedented leadership vacuum in the West.”

“I believe that in order for Europe to no longer be torn apart by its confusion, failure and contradictions, a new reconstruction agreement is needed,” he stressed.

He said Greece held out. “It is indeed correct that the country has signed a Greek-French agreement on defense assistance. It was right that we received the Rafal jet fighters and the modern Belkhara frigates. It was very right that we promoted the American presence in Alexandroupolis. And an upgrade in Suda and Stefanovikio. All this ignores America’s regional support for America and basically deprives it of an important geopolitical advantage. All this was done correctly from the Greek side.

And the credit for this, of course, belongs to the current Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, ”he stressed, noting that Ankara seeks to usurp most of our sovereign rights at sea.

“International maritime law clearly provides that the islands have full EEZ rights, thus the Kastelorizo ​​complex. Turkey demands that we resign and separate from her. Someone wants to involve us in negotiations, in what is called “Prespes of the Aegean”. We will not allow this,” he said.

Mr. Samaras also referred to hydrocarbon exploration, saying that SYRIZA froze everything and “fortunately, the mistake was recently corrected by the prime minister and the relevant minister.”

Mr. Samaras also suggested that new productive investments in Greece be tax-free for 5 years and said that the country’s main problem is demographic.

“In Prespa, Greece conceded in everything. You see, there was no Kostas Karamanlis to threaten the veto, as he did in Bucharest,” he said elsewhere in his speech, calling Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s statements about how Greece joined the euro offensive.

Regarding the Novartis case, he stated that it was a sham from the start and that it was undemocratic not to disclose the names of perjurers.

With regard to wiretapping, he said that it would be unthinkable for the government to intercept telephone conversations. “Our faction founded democracy. These phenomena cannot be tolerated,” he added.

Foundation President and Antonis Samaras’ wife Georgia spoke about the journey, contributions and dedication to the former Prime Minister’s homeland, while Harvard Professor Panagiotis Roilos also spoke at the event.

Archbishop Jerome, head of GEETHA Konstantinos Floros, ministers Nikos Dendias, Niki Kerameos, Makis Voridis, Vassilis Kikilias, Adonis Georgiadis, Takis Theodorikakos, Thanos Pleuris, Nikos Panagiotopoulos, Giannis Plakiotakis, G. Herapetritis Mitarakis, Kostas Tsiaras attended the opening ceremony of the Foundation Ah. Karamanlis and his father and historical ND member Achilleas Karamanlis, Deputy Ministers Mina Gaga, Nikos Papathanasis, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, Deputy Ministers Domna Mikhailidou, Yiannis Bratakos, Lefteris Economou, Giorgos Kotsiras, Zetta Makri, Nikos Hardalias, Stavros Kalafatis, Governor of the Bank of Greece Yiannis Sturnaras , US Ambassador to Athens George Tsunis, Athens Mayor Kostas Bakoyannis, regional mayors Yorgos Patoulis and Kostas Agorastos, former PASOK President Evangelos Venizelos, former EU Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos, ND Secretary Pavlos Marinakis, former Minister M. Chrysochoidis and others.

Source: RES-IPE