The Finance Minister, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, criticized both Alexis Tsipras and Nikos Androulakis on Thursday morning for their rhetoric and political positions.

Speaking on SKAI, he said about Alexis Tsipras that “in Thissio I heard gilded clichés from the past,” while about the PASOK leader he said “I feel he is auditioning to become leader of the old SYRIZA.”

“Tsipras was a series of clichés, gilded ones that had been said in the past. The most striking thing I heard was: since he chose the name EAM, will the youth organization be called EPON? Every time the country was divided with blood, literally and metaphorically. I did not hear a speech from him yesterday; I heard logic and rhetoric from yesterday, and that does not belong in 2026,” the Finance Minister said. “The question is: do we only want rhetoric and clichés? The problems are very large. The last time these political forces promised to tax wealth, they ended up taxing the middle class. When I hear a bit of 1980s PASOK vocabulary, a bit of left-wing symbolism and talk of plutocracies, all of that belongs to a world—and a country—that, if it forgets its past, is condemned to relive it.”

“Elections are about the future, but credibility is about what I have done before. We have credibility in reducing 83 taxes, while Mr. Tsipras increased taxes on the middle class. People know that the only way to deal with problems is with measured speech and measured actions,” he added, stressing: “We are not worried about any party, but about the people’s problems.”

Speaking about PASOK’s “present” vote regarding Giannis Stournaras, Pierrakakis said: “The PASOK representative came and said very good things about Stournaras, to the point where I thought maybe I didn’t say it that well myself. Then he left, came back, said something strange, and left again. That was theatrical rather than political. Voting against the renewal of Stournaras was a political paradox; in the left this was called revisionism.”

“I feel that Androulakis is auditioning to become leader of the old SYRIZA, and I observe that there are many suitors for that position,” he added meaningfully.

“I don’t believe oil will quickly return to $70”

Regarding social support, Pierrakakis noted that “you support society with the money you have. The available fiscal space is directed to society. We expanded support on rents, expanded the scope for pensioners, and we also have targeted measures such as €150 per child for 80% of families. The one horizontal measure concerns diesel because it passes into inflation more quickly. We evaluate this in relation to where oil prices are.”

When asked why the fuel pass is not being extended, he replied: “We are ahead of the problem, we look at where fuel prices are, and we will respond accordingly.”

On oil prices, the Finance Minister and head of the Eurogroup said: “If we see the problem at the Strait of Hormuz being resolved, oil will decrease, but if you ask me, I don’t believe it will quickly return to $70. We will not see such a drop so quickly, and that must be taken into account in our assessment.”

“The problem of every Greek man and woman is our problem; we are sleeves rolled up, within our capabilities. Every available fiscal margin we have proven goes back to society, as when we make the largest tax cuts since the restoration of democracy, or when the minimum wage has increased. If you add the PASOK–SYRIZA programs, they amount to €4–5 billion. If we had that money, we would give it too; I assure you, that money does not exist.”