Mitsotakis likens Tsipras to Hungary’s Orban
In a scathing attack on Thursday, New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis derided Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, saying he looked increasingly like Hungary’s nationalist leader Viktor Orban.
The conservative leader’s remarks came in response to criticism from Tsipras that his party is siding with Europe’s populist far right.
“It takes a lot of audacity to try to identify us with Orban types. We condemned him in the European Parliament. Mr Tsipras looks increasingly like an Orban type,” Mitsotakis told a meeting of his party’s shadow ministers on Thursday.
The ND leader went on to cite the government’s alleged interventions in the justice system with regard to the investigation into the devastating wildfire in Mati in east Attica. He also said the media has become an “open wound” for democracy.
“Government interventions in justice and information continue unabated. More and more shamelessly, public broadcasting has turned into a loudspeaker for the Maximos Mansion,” Mitsotakis said.
“It has been confirmed that when populists come to power, all they want is to stay in power,” he added.
Referring to the investigation into the fires, he said that the country’s institutions have been irreparably damaged in the effort to “cover up responsibilities.”
With regard to the migrant crisis, Mitsotakis slammed the government again over conditions at the overcrowed camp of Moria on the eastern Aegean island of Lesvos and its inability to make use of European Union funds to improve the situation.
“It’s immoral to take 1.6 billion euros and create the worst camp in the world,” he said,
