Greek PM to President Sakellaropoulou: The investigation into the tragedy will be done transparently

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in his meeting with the President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou on Friday, stated that everything will be done with absolute transparency and with maximum speed to render justice on the issue of the tragic accident in Tempi.

“In this effort I will not hesitate to use any European aid that may be available. I have asked the European Railway Authority to immediately draw up a report with suggestions on how we can improve and for this report to be made public from the moment it is delivered. On the other hand, we must take immediate corrective actions to improve the safety of our trains and my announcements yesterday also moved in this direction. The trains will resume running as soon as possible with maximum safety, with two stationmasters at each station and in each shift. And, of course, the electronic management system, which I want to remind you has been pending since 2014, will be completed quickly within the next months. But I believe that this incident also showed the great challenges that we still face in the real modernisation of the state, it is an ongoing battle [versus] embedded ideas with mindsets that come from the past. We have proven that as a country we can win several of these battles. It is not possible to have, on one hand, modern technological systems such as 112 that can alert any Greek in every corner of the country about an upcoming natural disaster and on the other hand, some stationmasters who cannot understand each other. So this conflict with what one might call a profoundly anachronistic state acquires characteristics of urgency. I think it will also be the challenge, not just for the next period, but a big challenge for the country as a whole to truly modernise, to become Europe everywhere, not just some parts in certain sectors, and personally I have always been involved in this battle. I know that this fight has both wins and very hard moments like this and that’s why I will keep fighting. But this is no longer a lonely battle, it is a battle that I believe is mobilising many healthy forces in Greek society, and within the state apparatus, that demand a better state with more expertise, with more efficiency, more transparency, more meritocracy, more evaluation and for everything this is what I will personally continue to fight for.”

On her part, Greek President Sakellaropoulou said: “The country is experiencing a tragedy. Our trauma is open, collective and deep. There are no words to ease the pain of the lives lost. Our society mourns and becomes angry and loses its trust in institutions. This anger, the rage of the world, we must not forget it, not push it away, but make it productive. We feel not only the responsibility but also the shame, I would say. There must be immediate and full accountability in every direction and we must all work together and with all our strength to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again. To eradicate the maladies, to definitively leave behind us the aspects of a Greece that repel and expose us. This is a debt to the lives that were unfairly lost, but also to our country.”