PM vows to take Greece to next level
Mitsotakis outlines his government’s vision of the country’s ‘multidimensional modernization’
Presenting his government’s vision for the future in Parliament on Thursday, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis referred to the implementation of the fourth cycle of Greece’s modernization.
The first three, he said, which marked Greece’s progress over the last century, were the “urban modernization” by the statesman Eleftherios Venizelos in the early 20th century, the modernization of the 1950s and 1960s which led to rapid post-war development and the “political modernization of the post-war period,” which he said, thanks to New Democracy founder Konstantinos Karamanlis, “solidified democracy.” “We are on the cusp of a new historical arc,” he said, outlining a new national goal he called “multidimensional modernization,” which constitutes the fourth cycle. His speech also included references to socialist PASOK founder Andreas Papandreou and his successor Kostas Simitis.
He spoke of an effort that would be “inclusive, protecting first and foremost the weakest, ambitious and fair.” “We have experienced the old ideological divisions and the illusory promises that took the country backward,” he said, adding that the country needs a “European modernization” that will lead us to a common pace in the future. More specifically, he referred to the “Five Greeces” – Productive Greece, Social Greece, Green and Digital Greece, Fair Greece and Strong Greece.
The measures he announced include, in addition to increases in the minimum and average wage, the further reduction of social security contributions and a rise in the tax-free threshold by €1,000 for families with children. He also referred to an increase in the family allowance for civil servants by €20 for the first child and by an additional €50 from the second child, an extension of the Youth Pass of €150 to every 18- and 19-year-old for travel and cultural activities from September, and announced a new national plan to upgrade school facilities.
For the health sector, he announced that a special team of 250 cyclists-rescuers is being formed to precede ambulances, providing first aid faster, and 800 rescuers are being recruited to the EKAB ambulance service.
On the institutional front, Mitsotakis announced the costing of party programs by an independent body, the Hellenic Fiscal Council, as well as a new national strategy for the management and protection of water resources with the return of EYDAP and EYATH to state control.
