“Greece is currently a positive surprise in an environment of much bad news, having set in motion a very dynamic developmental course, with its public finances absolutely in good order,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Friday, addressing a meeting at the Epirus Region’s headquarters in Ioannina.
Mitsotakis spoke of a need to further simplify remits on the level of state organisation, noting that a major challenge for his government was multi-level governance and clarifying areas of responsibility, while he promised to proceed at a faster pace than in the previous four-year term.
“The government always cooperates with all local government leaders, regardless of party affiliations,” Mitsotakis added, pointing out that this was his first visit to a region after the local government elections.
He congratulated the new governor of Epirus, Alexandros Kachrimanis, on his re-election and referred to the signing of a contract for the sale of a majority stake in the Igoumenitsa port authority to a private investor, saying that he expected both Igoumenitsa and the entire region to “take off” as a result.
Mitsotakis noted that another government pledge had been delivered with the addition of the Zagori district to the list of UNESCO Cultural Landscapes, which is to be made official at a ceremony in the spring. He also spoke of major infrastructure projects that are being planned.
Kachrimanis, on his part, described the prime minister as “the last hope, not only of Epirus but all of Greece” and asked him to support the farming sector and ensure the completion of the infrastructure projects that remain outstanding.
The meeting was attended by National Economy and Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis, Culture Minister Lina Mendoni, Shipping Minister Christos Stylianides, Deputy Social Cohesion and Family Minister Maria Kefala and a number of MPs and MEPs.
SOURCE; ANA-MPA
