Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday met the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, in Athens and discussed all matters relating to Europe.
In his statements, Mitsotakis put particular emphasis on the issue of the rule of law in Greece, stressing that it is stronger than ever, while attacking those who questioned it and noting that the sole entity competent to judge Greece was the European Commission, which monitors the progress of each member-state in rule of law issues. He also underlined that following the European Commission’s report, the “Economist” had included Greece in the top 20 countries where the rule of law was strongest in the world.
“The dangers for Europe lie elsewhere and must be condemned in the European elections,” Mitsotakis pointed out.
The prime minister noted that the EuroParliament elections are coming in four months and that “Europe must have its own answers.” He said it was very important for the member-states to forge a common path, adding that the key to these developments will be the voters’ participation. He also noted that the Greek government has established the postal vote so that all citizens can participate in the electoral process.
Mitsotakis said that he relayed his concern to Metsola over the destabilisation caused by developments in the Red Sea, adding that Greece is providing its military headquarters in Larissa and, as a power for stability, can’t be absent from the West’s effort to tackle the attacks against ships, many of which are Greek. They also discussed defence policy and the problems faced by farmers.
On her part, Metsola praised the way the Greek government had handled the problems of recent years. She said that, ahead of the European elections, we can further enhance democracy through the postal vote. She also said that they had discussed the Middle East and Ukraine and expressed her support for the agricultural sector. “It is important to address the situation, we do not want anyone lagging behind,” she said, referring to farmers.
On the rule of law in Europe, she noted that it was important to deal with all member-states in the same way and that, for this reason, “we insisted on a report on the rule of law for all member-states.” According to Metsola, the aim was to have an open discussion of the issues in order to avoid instrumentalising or making the rule of law a matter for party politics.
Metsola concluded by praising Greece’s introduction of legislation for full equality in marriage and saying the country had taken significant steps to ensure equality and counter racism.
