ND President Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed his support to two Greek servicemen detained and being held in Turkey and their families during his speech before the Greek Parliament plenum during talks on the proposal by main opposition party ND for the setting up of preliminary committee to look into possible involvement of SYRIZA minister Ksanthos, Polakis and Kouroumblis in the Novartis case. In a heated debate between Mr Mitsotakis and Greek PM Alexis Tsipras, the issue of Greek foreign policy and the fate of the two Greek servicemen in the Turkish high-security prison in Adrianople took precedent over the Novartis issue. Mr Mitsotakis accused the Greek PM of being unreliable and irresponsible on the serious matters of national interest, stressing that he had underestimated the incident with the two Greek soldiers. “In matters of foreign policy, our weakness will cost us much more. You must ensure that the two Greek soldiers return immediately. Proceed immediately with the establishment of a Security Council. We are not the only ones that has tabled the proposal. Mr. Theodorakis and everyone else accepts that today that it is a necessary institutional addition so that no-one does what comes to their heads, as is the case now with the Foreign and Defence Ministers”, he said.
On his part, the Greek PM accused Mr Mitsotakis of using the matters of foreign policy and national interest as a tool to score domestic political points, adding that he would not follow his lead and argue with him on such sensitive matters.
“You said, however, that the government is handling national issues with superficiality. For three years, the country has regained its role as a pillar of stability and security. This is not what we are saying here, but it is recognised by all the leaders that visit our country, all international organisations and this was not done by chance but via strategy and a plan, co-operation and by a policy of showing goodwill from our side towards our neighbours.