The introductory statement of Nikos Androulakis, President of PASOK-Movement for Change at the meeting with the productive and scientific bodies of Northern Greece:
Good morning and thank you very much for your presence, as you give us the opportunity to discuss with you the major challenges for the city, the region, but also the country as a whole.
For us, the Thessaloniki International Fair is an excellent opportunity to present once again our program and our vision for the Greece of the future. To respond to today's issues of the economy and society, to the problems that concern every family, every entrepreneur, the small and medium-sized enterprise, the worker, and to present how we envision and how we plan a strong Greece -economically, geopolitically-, with social justice, with quality institutions that function, that deepen democracy, reaching real European standards.
We know that the problems are many. The liquidity of businesses, the major strengthening of the banks, their very high profits, the dividends, but without responding to the real needs of the economy. The cost of services is very high in relation to the purchasing power of the Greek people. The situation prevailing in the management of European resources. We have seen in recent years, instead of the country moving forward with more transparency, more accountability, serious issues of corruption emerging.
Fair tax system: Is income taxed or the profession? And here very great injustices have arisen that we must rectify.
Green transition: Is it fair, green, resilient? Do we have lower production costs? Did we give energy space to small and medium-sized enterprises, to cooperatives, to the primary sector, to manufacturing? Or did we fail to follow what other European countries did, with the result that the green transition, the energy transition, became a field, an El Dorado for the powerful of the country?
We have many examples, foremost among them the situation prevailing in Western Macedonia. Even Germany is making use of the outermost limits allowed by the European Commission for high-efficiency lignite units, while the government has followed a different path, devaluing the investments of billions made by the Greek people only a few years ago.
Therefore, both in energy and in the cost of energy and in production costs, very serious issues arise.
After the Recovery Fund, what? A major question, which we must finally answer as a political system. What will be the country's current development dynamic? Is growth sustainable when it is based on a fund that is ending and on the sell-off of domestic property through real estate? For us, this model is unsustainable. We must invest productively, with added value, with innovation, with regional development as the protagonist.
Issues that are important for us are also the issues that arise for the welfare state. A strong welfare state and workers with rights are the starting points of social justice. We talk about demographics, but we do not say that without a strong welfare state you cannot provide the tools a new family needs to live with prospects, with hope, with dignity in every corner of the country.
Housing issue: You know that we were the first to put it in the public dialogue. And we received very great contempt from the Prime Minister since 2022, and now we hear about social housing programs. But it is 2026, and the government's second term is ending. We are living with a huge social issue, which is housing, having done very little. While we should have done much more, which other European countries have been doing for decades.
You know, many things that should have been done were not done. You may tell me, can't they be done in the future? As time passes, that time does not come back. That is why we are fighting for political change. Everything cannot be planned based on the polls.
We have a central difference compared to New Democracy. We have a vision and a comprehensive, long-term plan for the homeland. We did not plan with our eyes on the ballot box. We did not come yesterday to tell you about a 30% reduction in energy, -something that concerns all of you, entrepreneurs, families-, when it should have been done years ago with fixed tariffs and with less dependence on the Energy Exchange. Why now? Because now there is the pressure of the polls. This amateurish and authoritarian approach to the country's major issues cannot continue.
So before I give you the floor, I want to commit, in this meeting as well, that we represent a different culture of governance. With more transparency, more accountability, and more dialogue with all of you. Because, without dialogue, we cannot build strong relations of transparency, in the foreground, so that the very major reforms the country needs can be made. Therefore, more transparency, more accountability, and more dialogue are three very big bets for changing the culture of governance in the coming years.
In closing, on the occasion of the presence of the journalists, I also want to raise an issue that does not concern this specific discussion. But it causes me painful surprise that the government is not answering, despite PASOK's question, on a very important national security issue that has arisen and concerns the “Achilles' Shield”.
The Minister of Defense was saying on July 23 that there would be no procurement if we did not have access to the source code. He even added that we would not be held hostage even by friendly powers, pointing to Israel. And now we learn from an interview given by the director of Israel's missile defense to a reputable newspaper, Mr. Patel, that Greece will not have access to the source code. Here, a question arises to which the government does not respond.
Plain words: We support the country's defense strengthening, we support every effort to strengthen our deterrent power, but we also need plain words. Not us, Greek society. In the end, are we or are we not hostage? Do we have access to the source code, yes or no? These are questions that the Prime Minister must answer today.