Mitsotakis focuses on economy, transportation, energy, political stability and Ukraine in latest interview

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis touched on a number of issues in an interview to ERT on Tuesday morning.

There is no magical solution to Athens’ traffic problem, which has worsened due to the addition of new cars without older ones being retired. The only real solution is systematic support for public transport. It has been shown that wherever the Metro expands, it helps relieve congestion — but that is a long-term solution, noted the Greek Prime Minister.

"In the short term, the focus must be on buses. We have 800 new ones, but routes must become more frequent. Within six months we need to increase frequency on the routes most used by citizens, for example the 550."

A priority is supporting disposable income. We will allocate more than €2 billion in the coming months for income support. If we gave more, we would jeopardize fiscal stability. We chose to support young people and families with children. But a party like PASOK cannot vote for these measures and then promise far more.

In the coming weeks we will announce new measures to tackle the housing problem. Before the end of the year, the announcement for the new home-renovation program will also come."

Agriculture."

Real farmers and livestock breeders should know that the new system will exclude those who are not entitled to funds, but the total amount will remain the same — so actual farmers and breeders will receive more money.

The government will take an initiative so that by the end of the year, income support is provided to livestock farmers who lost animals due to smallpox. The support will be based on the number of animals culled and will help them until their herds are restored. The funding will come from the state budget.

Hellenic Post (ELTA)

If ELTA does not proceed with restructuring, it will be forced to close, to the benefit of private interests. But the nature of postal services has changed, so the network must be rationalized with alternative service methods, and this is the task the Ministry of Finance and the Hellenic Corporation of Assets and Participations are working on. I hope we will reach a solution that acknowledges the need to shrink the network while providing alternatives so that rural areas, in particular, do not feel neglected by the central state. There are technical issues concerning service provision at Citizen Service Centers (KEP), as ELTA cannot receive state aid. We must say that ELTA will modernize, but consultation with citizens must occur, branch by branch. This exercise perhaps should have occurred earlier; it now needs to proceed at the local level.

Energy and geopolitics

Everyone understands that with the agreements signed on natural gas, our country is being upgraded both energy-wise and geopolitically, becoming a central hub. Greece is becoming a provider of energy security for the Balkan countries and Ukraine, which has benefits in the broader geopolitical landscape. Apart from the agreements on the northern corridor, perhaps even more important is the decision by Exxon and two Greek companies to move forward with the first exploratory drilling in 40 years. If the results are positive, the economic benefits will be enormous. Greece has an obligation to investigate whether it has natural gas deposits.

Throughout recent years, the government has supported households during the energy crisis. Today, things have stabilized, and I estimate that medium- and long-term electricity prices will continue to fall.

We must therefore maintain the country’s upgraded status and the positive prospect of utilizing our own energy reserves, since in 18 months we will have a drilling rig.

Regarding the interconnection cable with Cyprus: There is much greater interest from investors and from the United States in connectivity projects in the Eastern Mediterranean. For this to move forward, a techno-economic update is needed so we can present the renewed data to investors and potentially attract them.

I have met Mr. Trump before. I am one of the longest-serving heads of government in the European Council. I am sure we will meet again at some point, and I am certain that Greece has a role to play in this new geopolitical environment.

Shipping plays an important role, as Greek ships transport 25% of liquefied natural gas.

Those who claimed the government had no points of contact with a Trump administration have been proven spectacularly wrong.

On Alexis Tsipras

I will not read the book. I read from the previews some references to extremely difficult moments. I choose to speak about the future, Mr. Tsipras about the past. The fact that he feels the need to rewrite history as he thinks it happened makes me believe he probably feels uncomfortable about what happened during his premiership. I don’t know if you would board a ship that has already run aground.

I see discussion about the next elections. All this is strange. Let time unfold. Let’s see which parties will run in the 2027 elections. My concern is dealing with citizens’ problems. Citizens care more about everyday issues; the rest is political gossip.

Elections will take place in 2027. New Democracy is seeking a majority. In my mind there is only one election — I do not listen to talk of double or triple ballots. The discussion of reshuffles and early elections is constantly repeated. Personally, I believe the government pays little attention to such things.

The major tax reform and the fight against tax evasion is a key reform that delivers results, because it allows us to return money to citizens. Then there is the major reform introducing non-state universities, and the reform consolidating magistrates’ courts, which is already delivering results. Recall that after the 2023 elections I spoke about restoring legality: stadium violence, the “Greek FBI,” and tackling organized crime and corruption in planning offices and municipalities. We have 18 months until the elections. I have no intention of slowing down or avoiding difficult issues whose benefits citizens will see over the years.

Reforms have an imprint on society. Take unemployment: in 2019 it was 18%, and now we are below 8%. Look at the minimum wage: it is at €880. In 2026 we will implement the recommended increase, and the target remains €950 in 2027. The average wage is €1,500. Wages are rising because when unemployment falls, businesses are forced to pay workers more.

A cooperation with Ukraine on maritime drones is in the works, as the country has significant expertise.

On political stability

Sometimes criticism focuses more on the “musical chairs” phenomenon of politicians moving from one party to another. This discussion concerns the opposition. Despite the expected wear-and-tear for a governing party, our polling numbers are more than double those of the second party. We are the responsible force governing the country.

I will not comment on alleged statements by the President of the Republic. I will not say what will happen in 2027 but what is happening now. Now the country has a stable government, which allows us to make agreements and implement economic policy that upgrades the economy. Today the country has a stable government delivering our program. We are doing what we said we would do, which is what we were given the mandate for. The electoral law will not change.

The constitutional revision process will begin in early 2026, with the hope of finding broader consensus. For two years now, the terms of the boards of the independent authorities have expired because the opposition has been unable to reach an agreement with us, leaving us in an institutional vacuum. I accepted Androulakis’ proposal for an open invitation — it is up to him to show he means it.

There is calm in Greek–Turkish relations. A meeting with Erdoğan will certainly take place. Every meeting is useful. The calm of the past two years is welcome. We have no violations; we have Turkish tourists contributing to revenues; we have cooperation on migration. I am concerned and not pleased about statements supporting a two-state solution for the Cyprus issue. It is not a bad thing that front pages are no longer filled with scenarios of tension and war with Turkey.