On the day of the inauguration of the new Emergency Departments (EDs) at the General State Hospital of Nicea, “thugs of the far Left” chose to prevent me from entering the hospital, Adonis Georgiadis said regarding the incidents there.

Speaking on ANT1, the Health Minister said that if the riot police had not been present, the demonstrators “would have killed me,” describing them as “thugs.”

He said, “I am not a confrontational person; I like dialogue, but today those who attacked me did not want dialogue.”

He also stressed that, given his position, “it is not only my right to enter a hospital, but also my duty.” Regarding the presence of the riot police at the entrance and the comment that the image was not a good one, the minister said that “if the police and riot units had not been there, they would have killed me.” “The riot police did not go there on their own; they went when they realized serious incidents would occur and went to protect me. The Hellenic Police acted with great professionalism and I want to thank them.”

“If you watch the video, you will see that only demonstrators attacked police officers, not the other way around.”

The doctor who was arrested “spat on me, insulted me, and hit me,” he explained, adding that normally he should have filed charges.

He went on to say that those protesting “are from ANTARSYA and the Communist Party of Greece, and they are probably protesting simply to protest,” adding that “since the day I took over the leadership of the Ministry of Health, the budget of the Nicea hospital increased from €33 million to €58 million. Overall, medical and nursing staff have increased by 400 people.”

Finally, he said that three days earlier he had received at his office a delegation from the hospital employees’ association—“the very same people who today were insulting me for what we agreed three days ago.”

In other statements, he initially noted: “I work very hard, because I have the great ambition to hand over to my successor the best National Health System (ESY) of all time.”

Regarding the new Emergency Departments, the minister said that “patients who go to Nicea will in practice see a different hospital, with humane care, far greater technical capabilities, and more inpatient beds.”

Commenting again on the incidents, Mr. Georgiadis said that “on this day, some far-left thugs chose to prevent the Minister of Health of the Hellenic Republic from entering the hospital. Unfortunately, some of the thuggish protesters hit many police officers and me—the hand is bruised and I can hardly move it because I took elbow blows to my hand.”

“My physical integrity, and that of Dimitris Markopoulos who was behind me, was seriously endangered as we were at risk of being trapped between the demonstrators and the railings at the hospital.”

The minister continued: “We were not afraid. Democracy is not afraid of fascism, not afraid of communism, not afraid of violence. We went inside the hospital, the real workers applauded and thanked us, we held the inauguration, and we showed that no thug can stop Greek democracy.”

He also referred to political parties, saying he “regrets the parties that issued statements once again in favor of the thugs and against democracy. I repeat that what happened was not against Adonis Georgiadis; it was against democracy. Adonis Georgiadis went there as Minister of Health of the Hellenic Republic, and what happened is unacceptable.”

He concluded by saying that “I did not want today’s day of joy for the Nicea hospital to go down in history as the day the Health Minister filed charges so that a doctor would be arrested, because whatever that person did against me—he hit me and insulted me, etc.—it is shameful for a public health official to behave like that, not toward the minister, but toward any person.”