Kyriakos Mitsotakis gave a date to the polls in the 2027 elections in which “we will be judged overall for our work”, speaking at a gathering of citizens in a cafe in Haidari.

Mitsotakis also referred to what he said at the TIF last weekend. He said that he announced a very bold tax reform that is designed to support citizens against inexactness with real wage increases resulting from tax cuts.

He noted that the government is returning the surplus to growth and that we are the exception in Europe as most countries are cutting spending and raising taxes.

“We are increasing spending and reducing taxes and this is the crowning achievement of a prudent policy,” Mitsotakis said. The prime minister said families with children are a priority as “the more children you have, the less tax you will pay.”

Mitsotakis added that the increases are very important and will be seen by workers and pensioners from January 2026.

He also referred to the government’s message to support young people with zero tax for those up to 25 years old and a tax cut from 22% to 9% for those 25 to 30 years old.

In addition, he also referred to the zeroing of the ENFIA in the next two years for settlements of less than 1500 people for first homes and the 30% reduction in VAT on outlying islands.

“When I promised that better days are ahead, we mean it and we are putting it into practice. As long as the economy grows, we will return a growth dividend. We are emphasizing public education, public health, public services. The state close to the citizen,” he added.

“We honor our election commitments in full. We will not give in to the temptation to make promises for something we will not do, nor will we spend money we don’t have,” he stressed, and called on citizens every time they hear promises and uncosted measures from the opposition to ask themselves how they will be financed.

“It was not long ago that Greece was on the brink of collapse,” he added, recalling that the New Democracy party backed out in 2015 and then “Mr Tsipras deceived the political leaders, led the country to elections and made Greece an orphan.”

Kyriakos Mitsotakis stressed that “what we are building step by step can under certain conditions be demolished.”

He also spoke about the importance of political stability and stressed that it is important that there is a one-party government with a secure parliamentary majority.

Ahead of the start of the new school year tomorrow, he wished a good start to the children and teachers and recalled that 430 schools have been completely reconstructed and the same will happen in another 2000 through the “Marietta Giannakou” programme and with 300 million funds from the Union of Greek Banks.

Mitsotakis also stressed that developments are underway and spoke about Chevron’s official application for hydrocarbon exploration. “It is the best proof of the way the government understands the country’s upgrade. We are an important energy player in the Mediterranean,” he stressed and made it known that he will meet tomorrow at the Maximou Mansion with the US Secretary of the Interior who handles energy portfolios.

Below is the full text of the greeting of Prime Minister and President of the New Democracy Kyriakos Mitsotakis at a gathering of citizens in Haidari:

Good evening, friends. Every time I am in Haidari I am especially happy, because I see many old friends with us. You remind me of my first steps in the Athens Parliament, when I started in 2004, as a new MP at that time. You have always stood by my side and you stand by me now, just as you stand by our party, New Democracy.

I was in Haidari today because before I came to share a few thoughts with you, I visited a fellow citizen, your resident, a citizen of Haidari, who is one of the first recipients of the home delivery of medicines, which this government has started, for the benefit of our fellow citizens who were suffering in the queues of the pharmacies of the EOPYY. Now, for the first time, they have the opportunity to receive their medicines at home.

This is just one of the many small changes we have implemented so that we can make the lives of our fellow citizens, especially those in greatest need, better every day.

So, I thought that since I would be in Haidari, I would come here to share some thoughts with you.

Besides, you see that the political news is extremely dense. The developments are running. Let me start with a very important development, which concerns the geopolitical position of the country.

A short while ago, I was officially informed that the American multinational giant Chevron, together with HELLENiQ Energy, has filed a formal application for the development of four plots of land, two of which are located south of Crete, for hydrocarbon exploration, primarily for natural gas.

I think this is the best proof of the way our government understands the upgrading of the country’s geopolitical position. We are becoming an important energy “player” in the Eastern Mediterranean, which is recognized not only by the European Union but also by the United States of America.

Tomorrow I will have the opportunity to receive at Maximou Mansion, on his first official visit to a European country, the US Secretary of the Interior, who handles the energy portfolios, to discuss exactly how we are constantly upgrading the strategic, geopolitical energy role of our country.

But I am with you today and a few days after the weekend of the Thessaloniki International Fair, where I had the opportunity, both in my speech and at the press conference, to outline our economic policy for the coming year. To announce, in essence, a very bold tax reform that has one central purpose: to support our fellow citizens against persistent poverty, with real wage increases that will come from generous tax cuts.

Why are we able to do this? We are in a position today to be able to return to society the surplus of growth precisely because the Greek economy is growing rapidly, because we have been able to tackle tax evasion, and in this way, we have created the fiscal space to be able to support Greek society.

I insist very much on this, friends, because today Greece is the exception in Europe. Most European countries are being forced to raise taxes and cut spending. We are happy to be able to increase spending and cut taxes. And this is the culmination of a prudent economic policy that we have been following all these years.

Our priority, first and foremost, is families with children. To address the demographic problem and to support our fellow citizens with children, we are doing something that has never been done to this extent in our country, something very simple: the more children you have, the less tax you pay.

The more children you have, the more tax you will pay, the more tax you will pay.
That’s what the wage earner, the retiree, and the employee will see on their paycheck come January 2026. And the increases-I think you’ve seen the examples from the Ministry of Finance-are very significant indeed, especially for our citizens who have children.

We are doing something else, though, which I also think is extremely important and I think it is a message to the younger generation, to the children who may be working here today, in the cafeteria or in the cafeterias in Haidari, the children who come from technical education and enter the labor market early. We are doing something that has never been done before in the country.

Very simply we are saying: up to 25 years of age, zero income tax. You work and pay no tax. And from 25 to 30 the income tax drops from 22% to 9%, so you pay a lot less tax than what you were paying before.

This is also a practical support for the younger generation, who often feel-and they tell us so-concerned and worried. It says to you: “will we be able to live better than our parents?”. And I hear that reflection.

Our government is listening to society. That’s why we are taking this bold move to support young people, while sending them a message at the same time: the earlier you enter the labour market, the greater the benefit you will get if you make this choice.

But we have also done something else that I think is very important. Wherever I go in the Greek periphery – I think you can see it too – I see around me a periphery that is being tested, I see villages that are finding it difficult to hold back their population, I see people leaving the villages and going to the cities.

So we are doing something that is also very bold: for all settlements, villages and towns, under 1,500 people, zero ENTF within the next two years for the first house.

We are also supporting our East Aegean islands, with a 30% reduction in VAT on all islands, from Kastelorizo to Samothrace and from Lipsi to Lemnos. And this is a move that the outlying islands have been asking us for a very long time, because we had five islands with a low VAT rate, and in this way, we managed to put all the islands in the same category, so that there are no internal injustices.

So what I want you to keep in mind, friends, is that this government, when it spoke to you and when I spoke to you two years ago and promised you that better days are ahead, we mean it and we are making it happen.

Step by step, we are supporting the Greek citizens against the problem of accuracy. As the economy grows, we will be able to return the dividend of growth to society. And at the same time, we will continue to place a very strong emphasis on public education, public health, and public services, to be close to the citizen. A state that really cares about society and makes sure that it helps the citizens in every way it can, and that it becomes more and more efficient.

Finally, I would like to remind you that tomorrow the new school year starts. So let’s wish a good start to the children who will be going to their first class tomorrow, the first bell will ring. And let me remind you that this school year will find us with 430 schools, in the first phase, which will have been almost completely rebuilt by the Marietta Giannakou programme: new toilets, painting, accessible schools for our fellow citizens, for children, for teachers with disabilities, new courts built in courtyards. And we have secured a commitment from the Hellenic Bankers Association, 300 million euros over the next three years, to rebuild a total of 2,000 schools in the country. So that our children and our teachers can have access to educational structures that are of high quality, modern, clean and safe.

I don’t want to bore you any further. I just want to tell you again that we honor the election commitments that I gave you two years ago, when you trusted us to govern the country for the second time, and we are implementing them in full.

We will not give in to the temptation to promise you things we cannot do, and we will not succumb to pressure to spend money we do not have.

Right now, the country has the capacity for 2026 to allocate to society about €1.75 billion. This is the money we have available. It is not little, but it is not endless.

That’s why every time you hear the opposition promising you unpalatable measures, you have to ask yourself: the things they’re selling you and the things they would do if they were in our position, how can they possibly fund them? And how fast can the return from the progress we have made to a situation we want to leave behind us for good be?

Because it’s not so long ago, friends, that Greece was on the brink, 10 years ago, when New Democracy, on August 14, 2015, backed the country, supported the country, suffered the cost of the third memorandum.

Then – I want to remind you – Mr Tsipras deceived the political leaders, led the country to elections, to finally implement a 3rd memorandum, which “crushed” the middle class in taxes and made Greece the tail end of Europe.

All this should not be forgotten. We left this period behind with a lot of effort. But you must know something: what is built step by step can, under certain conditions, be quickly demolished.

And today, Greece has something that many European countries do not have, and that is political stability. There must be a one-party government, with a secure parliamentary majority, which is implementing its programme, strengthening the country, supporting the Armed Forces, managing international crises, dealing with problems such as the migrant crisis in Crete, in an absolutely effective way, because the flows in Crete have practically been reduced to zero with the moves we have made.

And this achievement of political stability is reflected in the economy and society. So we will guard it as the apple of our eye, we will honour the mandate you gave us, and we will meet again at the polls – despite what some may believe – in the spring of 2027, to be judged on our work as a whole.

Thank you very much for your attendance. Good luck and a good start to our children and to the teachers and faculty who will go to their first day of school tomorrow.

Be well, thank you very much.