Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis refers to the government’s plan to support households facing high energy costs in his Sunday weekly review.

As he says, “in the coming days, we will announce a significant intervention by the government and the refineries concerning heating oil, so that the starting price is set below €1.75 per liter, lower than the level at which last year’s season ended. At the same time, we are proceeding with a universal increase in the heating allowance, not only for those who use heating oil, but also for households heated by other forms of energy. The greatest support is consistently directed towards areas where needs are higher because of climatic conditions. We are also extending the diesel subsidy throughout October.”

Mr Mitsotakis also highlights the country’s double upgrade by Moody’s and Scope, stressing that it matters “because the more credible a country is considered to be, the more cheaply it can borrow, the more easily it can attract investment and the greater the economy’s capacity to grow. And, ultimately, this means more jobs, better wages and more resources for Health, Education and the welfare state.”

Regarding Constitutional Reform, he points out that “we saw forces that define themselves as serious and responsible failing to support even changes with which, in substance, they agree or which they have included in their programs”, describing this as “a logic that falls short of the circumstances”.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s post

Now that you are reading this review, it is 10am in Greece. In San Francisco, the day has just changed. So, technically, you already know more about Sunday than I do. Good morning, then — or good night, depending on which side of the Atlantic one is looking from. I am here where, among other things, I will be meeting with leading high-tech companies before traveling to New York for the UN General Assembly. But let’s get to the week’s news!

I will start with two pieces of good news for the Greek economy. Within just 24 hours, Moody’s upgraded the outlook for our country, while Scope upgraded its credit rating. I wrote yesterday as well that these two upgrades are yet another confirmation of the progress our economy has made in recent years. Above all, they highlight the distance we have traveled from the period when Greece was outside investment grade and was borrowing on far less favourable terms. I understand that all this may sound somewhat technical, but it matters because the more credible a country is considered to be, the more cheaply it can borrow, the more easily it attracts investment and the greater the economy’s capacity to grow. And, ultimately, this means more jobs, better wages and more resources for Health, Education and the welfare state.

The country has changed and continues to change, and this is not something that concerns the economy alone. One of the next major steps is Constitutional Reform, which we discussed in Parliament this week. It is an issue that, under normal circumstances, should unite us more than it divides us, because it is not about a government or an opposition, but about the rules by which the country will operate for many years to come. And yet, we saw forces that define themselves as serious and responsible failing to support even changes with which, in substance, they agree or which they have included in their programs.

The opposition obviously has every right to put forward its own proposals. That is democracy. But when you say that Article 16 must be changed, that ministerial responsibility requires a different approach and that the judiciary must be given greater protection, you cannot at the same time choose to abstain and make every change more difficult. That is exactly what happened. It is a logic that falls short of the circumstances. The citizens, however, are watching and judging. And I hope that in the next Parliament this opportunity will not be lost, but will oblige everyone to approach the country with greater responsibility.

I now turn to the issue of rising costs. In the coming days, we will announce a significant intervention by the government and the refineries concerning heating oil, so that the starting price is set below €1.75 per litre, lower than the level at which last year’s season ended. At the same time, we are proceeding with a universal increase in the heating allowance, not only for those who use heating oil, but also for households heated by other forms of energy. The greatest support is consistently directed towards areas where needs are higher because of climatic conditions. We are also extending the diesel subsidy throughout October.

Of course, even if a government has fiscal reserves, the scale of the problem makes European intervention necessary, and I continue to insist on this. If the European Union allows exceptional national measures without them counting towards spending limits, we could also consider a temporary reduction in fuel taxation.

After all, this is not the first time Greece has raised an issue in Europe that goes beyond its national borders. We are already seeing this in the effort to protect children from the dangers of digital addiction and social media. Our country has taken the lead in this discussion. With KidsWallet, we created a functional age-verification mechanism and raised at an early stage the need for a common European “digital age of majority”. It is important that the European Commission’s proposal now adopts this basic principle: standalone social media accounts from the age of 15 onwards, with stricter restrictions for younger age groups, as well as greater corporate responsibility on the part of platforms. This is a very important message at a time when warnings about the capabilities of artificial intelligence have multiplied.

On migration, too, our positions are being vindicated and heard. At European level, I was pleased to hear the President of the European Commission announce that she will propose a European emergency response mechanism for cases of mass and weaponised migration flows, as happened at the Evros border in 2021 and recently in Ceuta. This is a proposal I had already put forward in early August in an article for Politico. Because when a member state comes under such pressure at its borders, it is not defending only its own borders. It is defending Europe’s borders. And Europe must have a common response ready.

I should also mention that the Council of State ruled that the mandatory registration of NGOs in the Ministry of Migration and Asylum’s Register, as well as the auditing of their financial records, is constitutional. This is an important victory for transparency, oversight and accountability. Anyone operating in such a sensitive field cannot function without rules and scrutiny.

I am changing the subject completely and moving, mentally this time, to Kastellorizo, the easternmost point of Greece and the European Union, where last Sunday we presented a comprehensive plan involving 37 projects of strategic importance. Among these, I would highlight the permanent annual income incentive of €5,000 for all residents and for public servants, members of the security forces and the Armed Forces. I believe this is a practical way of supporting those who choose to live and serve in a place with major difficulties but also great importance for the country.

The effort to strengthen the regions concerns the islands, mountainous areas, small towns and villages as a whole — places that need better infrastructure, services and more opportunities. In practice, this means giving people the opportunity to stay, return or choose to build their lives there, while feeling safe. In Psara, for example, the new Multi-Purpose Regional Medical Centre, costing €2.1 million, addresses the obvious need to ensure that no one, wherever they live, feels deprived of high-quality health and care services.

In Porto Germeno, which was severely affected by the major August wildfire, anti-erosion and flood-prevention works costing €2 million have already begun, with Piraeus Bank as the contractor. The aim is for the critical interventions to be completed before the heavy autumn and winter rainfall. The projects cover 4,189 acres and 10 streams, with the cooperation of the state, local authorities and the Forestry Service.

At the same time, we are giving citizens and businesses affected by the July and August fires some breathing space for 12 months by suspending all enforcement proceedings against their movable or immovable property, with the exception of maintenance claims, for those who have been certified as affected and have been included in state aid or housing assistance and household contents compensation programs.

At the heart of our strategy, however, is also the bigger picture of the country’s digital and productive transformation. Greece is entering the global Data Centre map more dynamically than ever, thanks to an agreement between PPC and Amazon Web Services to create one of the largest Data Processing Centers in Western Macedonia, in Agios Dimitrios. This is a major investment that will bring new, well-paid jobs, keeping young scientists in their local communities.

Since I am referring to investment, let me also say that our country is achieving the best performance in the European Union when it comes to the time taken to assess investment projects, now completing the process within 45 to 90 days. Through the new development law, we have already approved 928 investment projects with a total budget of €3.1 billion, with public support reaching €1.5 billion, creating the conditions to secure at least 15,000 highly productive jobs.

On Thursday, we also had the pleasure of officially opening the country’s most modern Sports Park, the “Ellinikon Sports Park”, which can be enjoyed not only by residents of the municipalities neighbouring Ellinikon, but by people from across Attica. On an area of 200 acres, with football, basketball, athletics and tennis facilities, athletes and clubs can train there, as can families with children and people of all ages who want to exercise, walk or spend time outdoors. It is the first major project of the Ellinikon redevelopment to be delivered for citizens’ everyday use, and we are very proud of it.

We are also proud of our male and female athletes for their impressive performance at the 20th Mediterranean Games in Taranto. Greece won 71 medals — 26 gold, 26 silver and 19 bronze — and, for the first time, finished third in the overall rankings among 27 countries. Many congratulations to the athletes themselves, their coaches and the Federations.

And since we are talking about sport, the “Sport for All” programs are continuing this year for children, adults, older people, people with disabilities and socially vulnerable groups. So far, 115 municipalities have responded, with 829 physical education graduates taking responsibility for 6,584 approved programs, in which approximately 150,000 participants are expected to take part.

I will close with something beautiful about Athens. The magnificent archaeological site of Kerameikos has once again been opened to the city’s residents and visitors, fully upgraded and accessible to people with mobility and visual impairments. New routes have been created, ancient remains have been brought to prominence and 1,000 trees and shrubs have been planted, while the sarcophagus of Philotera is being displayed for the first time from the new exit on Agion Asomaton Street. It is one of the most important funerary monuments from the Roman period at Kerameikos.

A project that had remained pending for years has been completed with funding from the Recovery Fund. Along with the Pnyx, the Ancient Agora, the Acropolis and the National Garden, Kerameikos is making Athens a little more open, accessible and beautiful.

If you have time, add it to today’s walk.

Have a good day!