ND leader Mitsotakis: We will vote against tax measures

He will meet with former French Minister Nicolas Sarkozy and in the afternoon with the OECD secretary general Angel Gurria

“We will vote against tax measures, but we will support reforms,” New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in an interview with France 24 TV.

Asked on Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ policy on the refugee issue, he said: “Alexis Tsipras did nothing on the refugee issue for eight months. He gave a clear message that the easiest way to get into Europe is via the Greek islands. When he understood the gravity of the problem, it was too late. I believe we have to wait to see if the EU-Turkey agreement is efficient. I am optimistic, but the situation in Turkey is problematic. I hope that Turkey will meet its commitments.”

When asked on how his party could do things differently, since it has failed in the past, he said: “I’m not sure that our policy has failed. Greece was ready in 2014 to return to economic growth. We lost two years with Tsipras, we did not have any economic growth in 2015, we don’t see economic growth in 2016. And actually with Tsipras I am not optimistic at all, because all the measures proposed are tax measures, there are no real structural reforms, I don’t trust Tsipras and I don’t trust him in bringing Greece back to economic growth. That is our big difference,”.

Earlier on Tuesday, Mitsotakis met with French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron, while at 15.30 he will meet with former French Minister Nicolas Sarkozy and in the afternoon with the OECD secretary general Angel Gurria.