Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is visiting Skiathos, where this morning he chaired a meeting at the Town Hall with representatives of the local government and the business community on the needs of the local community, the programme for the implementation of projects on the island and the strengthening of the National Marine Park of Alonissos North Sporades.

“Mr. Mayor, Minister, Madam and Gentlemen of Parliament, I would like to thank you, first of all, for the very warm welcome. I have been committed to coming to Skiathos for some time now and I am delighted to be with you today.

We had a very substantive discussion on the important initiatives undertaken by the local authority and the local bodies.

First of all, let me congratulate you, because you are a model municipality that has managed to absorb resources from different financial instruments and turn them into important infrastructure projects for the island.

I would also like to congratulate the institutions, the representatives of the business world of Skiathos, because Skiathos is always at the forefront, at the cutting edge of our tourist product.

We had the opportunity to discuss a number of outstanding issues which are still to be addressed. I am summarizing the issue of permanent coastal connection by speedboat and in winter, an issue that I think we can address, the inclusion of a number of important infrastructure projects, financial tools that seem to be available at this time.

From our discussion I keep as particularly important the marina project, which I hope that it will be able to be put out to tender by the Hyperfund as soon as possible and I think it will be a flagship project for the overall development of Skiathos and the creation of infrastructure for a new kind of tourism, which is obviously much more environmentally friendly.

And since we are talking about marine tourism, I would like to emphasize the importance I attach to the further promotion and strengthening of the Marine Park of the Northern Sporades, which I will have the opportunity to visit this afternoon.

It is an emblematic project of marine protection, which was, I would say, the source of inspiration for the creation of the two new Marine Parks in the Ionian and South Aegean, which, as you know, have recently been announced.

I want us to work together with the local community, the local stakeholders, so that we can turn this Marine Park into a model, not only of marine protection but also of sustainable development, using all the means that technology now gives us, so that this Marine Park can become the model on which we will build the infrastructure and the framework for the protection of the two large Marine Parks, which we hope to have launched within the next year.

So again, thank you for the very warm welcome. Let me close by saying that it is my obligation to be in every corner of Greece, as part of my duties, and I will continue to tour all over Greece until the next national elections.

And I believe very much in this interaction between the local communities and the Central Government, after all, we are all judged, both the local communities and the local authorities and the government, for our effectiveness and for our ability to implement the commitments we made to the citizens when they trusted us.

That is true for local authorities, it is equally true for central government, so we will continue to make that effort and to close our ears, I would say, to the voices of polarization and toxicity, which, especially in small local communities, should not be allowed to make their appearance.

Keep local public discourse as far away as possible from the tensions of the central political scene, if I may offer an encouragement. Our job is also to turn a deaf ear to toxicity, put our heads down, work hard, and solve problems that may seem small to us, but are extremely important to you.

So I hope that this tourist season closes well and I think we have a clear timetable for how we want to move from now on,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said at the end of the meeting, which was also attended by Interior Minister Thodoris Livanios.

For his part, Skiathos Mayor Thodoris Tzoumas noted: “It is with great pleasure and honour that we welcome the Prime Minister to the Municipality of Skiathos. We have already informed him about the large program of projects that has started in 2019 and has been completed or is in the process of completion, and involves a budget of about 25 million euros, in infrastructure projects that the place needs, projects that bring Skiathos to a new era.

We also informed, also, about the main problems that we are facing at the moment, namely mainly the coastal connection, but also some infrastructure projects that need to be launched, such as the master plan, sewerage projects.

To reiterate that it is a great pleasure and honor and thank you once again for everything that has happened since 2019 to date in Skiathos. Chairman, we are grateful to you.”

Marietta Giannakou Programme: a substantial footprint in all local communities
Earlier, the Prime Minister visited the 1st Primary School of Skiathos, another of the 430 schools in the country that will be renovated during the summer through the “Marietta Giannakou” programme.