Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis characterised the possibility of imposing a new general lockdown “almost unthinkable”, speaking to historian and author Yuval Noah Harari for the New York Times.
In the presence of Liz Alderman, the New York Times‘ chief financial officer the PM stressed that “We have three or four difficult months ahead of us,” adding that “We are now using more local lockdowns, smart tracking, mass testing.”
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The PM explained that the “Greek experiment” in dealing with the Covid-19 would not have been successful during the first wave of the pandemic if the government had failed to get citizens more actively involved and build a relationship of trust with the authorities. “I mean the state and not necessarily the elected government- and citizens.”
“I think there is a general agreement between European countries, that it is very difficult, almost unthinkable to go to a second general lockdown. Now, we are using more local lockdown, smart tracking, mass testing.”
The Greek PM wished all the best to President Trump and his wife in the fight against the virus. “If I could take away something from this sad affair is that the virus does not discriminate, it excludes no one, it can affect us all.”
Asked about concerns raised that authoritarian regimes could emerge in the future as a result of the health crisis, he noted that “the great challenge is the reinvention of the state within the framework of democracy.”
