A message of optimism and confidence for 2025 was the one Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis aimed to convey in his New Year’s statement for 2025.

The detailed message from the Prime Minister:

We bid farewell to the tumultuous 2024 amidst serious geopolitical tremors in our neighborhood and across the world. However, we welcome 2025 with the confidence of a country that, despite the obstacles, keeps its course directed toward progress, strengthening its defense and economy, and striving, day by day, to improve the lives of all Greek citizens.

There has been much we have achieved together in just twelve months. After many years, salaries and pensions have been increased, taxes and unemployment continue to fall, and we have seen changes and projects that some thought were impossible: from absentee voting and non-state universities, to the fight against tax evasion and, of course, the Thessaloniki Metro. Major changes, which are already a reality.

Of course, 2024 also had its problems. Our country, like others, was hit by the climate crisis. And, domestically, there were some failures. But, I say it again: in an unstable world, Greece remains steady, and in an environment of stagnation, it keeps moving forward. So, at the dawn of 2025, we face the challenges with realism, so that, with planning and hard work, we can turn them into new opportunities.

Starting tomorrow, workers and pensioners will see improved earnings and reduced contributions. Professionals will be relieved from the professional tax, and the “My Home II” program will begin. From the new year, many banking charges will also be zeroed or reduced. In April, the minimum wage and public sector wages will rise again, followed by new support for our uniformed services.

Finally, the calendar has Greece progressing quickly with the upgrade of all hospitals and health centers, new schools, digital teaching boards in classrooms, and many electric buses in cities. A member state of the UN Security Council, receiving its first Belh@rra frigate, alongside Rafale fighter jets and numerous upgraded F-16s.

A country that addresses the big issues, but also those that may seem small yet carry significant risks: from serious crime to juvenile delinquency, and from violence-free stadiums to free preventive exams for adults, as well as measures to protect children from digital addiction and the reckless use of mobile phones.

Closing
So, we leave behind the storms and misery of yesterday. Of course, I feel that no progress should ever be considered enough. But it is now visible, even more so when we consider the journey we’ve made so far, which gives us new confidence to unite and turn our hopes into certainties, to make the steps of our nation leaps, from the today we live to the tomorrow we want.

Happy New Year to all, with health and many smiles. The best is yet to come.