Greek PM Mitsotakis speaks of the Tempi disaster, elections, his spouse, and football

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis gave an interview with MEGA channel to Eleonora Meleti, as part of the opening he is making to the younger and female audiences.

Starting with the elections, he said that the main question is whether we will continue to go forward or step back. We are at a time when society is facing difficulties from imported inflation. It is the first thing that concerns the Greeks. Our duty if the world trusts us again is to support the Greeks.

He pointed out that he wants to compare himself with himself and wants to do his self-criticism and improve. He said that politics is a comparative process, stressing that  he wants any vote for him his person to be positive.

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Citizens can compare what the country has achieved. It’s not a personal confrontation. Citizens don’t just choose a party, they also choose a candidate for prime minister, and that’s why PASOK’s stance on the infamous unknown “X” created confusion,” said the prime minister.

“Certainly politics is a comparative process. I would like the vote both for me and for the party I lead to be positive. That’s why I’m talking about our report. I emphasize the consistency of words and works,” he added.

For the interview with Nefeli Meg

“I wanted to expose myself to the tough questions of a young 25-year-old girl,” he said in response to a question about the interview he gave to YouTuber Nefeli Meg. “Many times their questions are blunt and they don’t easily agree with the answer I will give them. She is my daughter’s age. Each of my children has different characteristics and different interess in common affairs. I listen to them. Many times they come up with ideas that I haven’t thought of. My youngest daughter told me e.g. that other countries do things for menopausal women. Here women have an additional cost that men do not. We have to deal with it. We will make announcements soon. It was my daughter’s idea,” he said.

I have banned Tik Tok for members of the Council of Ministers

Referring to social media, he said that “Tik Tok is a tool that has a lot of power, it also raises a lot of questions. I don’t have the app on my phone and I have banned all cabinet members from having it. But it enables me to communicate.” It’s impressive how many young people are seeing and receiving the message through Tik Tok.”

About Tik Tok, he said he finds it fun and honest, and stressed that it’s impressive how many new people can get the message from there. “If we are to be heard, we must use these channels of communication,” he noted.

Mistakes were made in Tempi

Regarding Tempi, Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that it was a great tragedy and he feels heavy responsibility for it. “I took responsibility and mistakes were made but time cannot be turned back.”

He mentioned that his children were saying “tell me what you will do to prevent this from happening again”.

“I also felt a lot of pressure, privately I might have even cried. I have to manage the crisis the next day, the next hour,” he said

I am determined to fight

“Most crises we managed were imported” said Kyriakos Mitsotakis. “They were crises where the state rose to the occasion. I was touched by the story of the border guard in Evros. The same state we accuse organized the vaccination campaign. The same state is the one that kept the country safe through the armed forces.”

And he added: “There is also the state with nepotism, indifference, we saw it in the OSE. I’m more determined to clash [with that state]. For the first time, we held a nationwide competition for civil service hiring process ASEP and we will have a list of winners. For the first time we are doing a real evaluation. I guarantee that I can put these into practice.”

On women

He made particular reference to issues concerning women. Asked about it, he said that “two of my three sisters went through and are going through a great ordeal. Fortunately, things are going well for both Dora and Katerina,” he said.

Referring to the “Fofi Gennimata” program, he said that “I am happy that it is running with significant results. Over 6,000 cases have already been diagnosed. Women who had cancer, didn’t know it, and now that they know, they have a good chance of getting well. Screening is a key pillar of our health policy. It also applies to children. One of the big bets I want to tackle is childhood obesity. Mental issues are a big global issue for teenagers” said the Prime Minister referring to health issues.

“On the State ballot you will see the presence of women in all positions,” said the prime minister, while he then referred to the issue of violence against women: “Both [spouse] Mareva and I have dealt a lot with the issue of the abuse of women. We now have support centers in police stations, we need to train the police. It is very difficult to go to a police station and report an incident of domestic violence. We are not where we want to be, but we have started to take some steps in the right direction” he emphasized and added: “I was with the parents of Eleni Topaloudi in Didymoteicho and soon I will see all the families who had victims. We are doing well in using the term “femicide”. One feels only heartbreak when talking to these people, as when I spoke to the relatives of the Tempe victims. What one can do, is to get strength. Parents are asking for justice and many times they are suffering from the judicial system, I heard these stories and it turned my guts. Ah quick and final punishment, justice. The strictest penalties, we have done it. And then preventive policies so that we have as few cases as possible.”

On spouse Mareva

Kyriakos Mitsotakis mentioned his relationship with his wife Mareva. As he said “we have been together for almost 30 years. We went through a period when we were not together. When we met again our relationship was stronger. She is the person who will keep me completely grounded. Mareva will definitely give me her opinion in a very blunt way, she will push me, she is not always right obviously, and she has a different sensibility. She sees things that I simply don’t. Certainly my mother had a strong personality and Mareva has a strong personality

The prime minister said he misses his parents and added that whenever he is in Crete he takes his bike and stops at the cemetery and leaves flowers. “Parents have done a good job when you seek their opinion and you know what they would tell you if they were present,” he pointed out.

I have played tennis with Maria Sakkari

Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that he has played tennis with Maria Sakari. “She was very kind to me. It is impossible for me to return her second serve,” he said characteristically, and added that his family talks a lot about personal matters. I really like spending time with their partners, he said while revealing that one of his children does the exact opposite of what he says

If he would get a tattoo

Tattoos are very fashionable, he said, while he did not rule out the possibility of getting one himself at some point. “My wife has a small dolphin.. I like this idea. These are decisions of the moment” he said and added that my advice to children, I say, pay attention because it is for life, it will be there forever.

On football

Asked about the situation in Greek football and the questioning that has been raised about the foreign referees being selected, he said: “football is so important that what you say is imperative”.

“It has administrative independence” he said and added: “It is unthinkable that we cannot have good, serious referees from abroad. VAR is a great advancement for football. But there also exists from abroad a consolidation plan and that’s where we have to go.”

“The matches must be played on the field” he said afterwards. “We have made strides in the area of fan violence. We want to have objective refereeing and let the best man win. It is of great importance to improve the infrastructure. Panathinaikos finally gets its own stadium. When someone enters a new stadium, attitudes change.”

On elections

Speaking about the upcoming elections and young voters, he emphasized: “Anyone born in 2006 can vote”, while addressing youth he said: “Don’t look for the perfect and the ideal because it may not exist.

“They should close their eyes and ears to extreme voices, to criminal activity that equates politics with violence.” Finally, regarding the participation of the Kasidiaris party in the elections and the initiatives of the government, he said: “Politics is in no way violence. In the Parliament we did our duty, now the responsibility lies with justice and I am sure that justice will be done according to the circumstances” concluded the prime minister.