Ομιλία του Πρωθυπουργού Κυριάκου Μητσοτάκη σε ομογενειακή εκδήλωση στη Νέα Υόρκη — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:03How are you?
2. 0:16Thank you so much uh for attending this
3. 0:21uh beautiful lunch and uh indeed it has
4. 0:25been uh 5 years since we first took the
5. 0:29opportunity to bring so many Greek
6. 0:32American organizations together for the
7. 0:35primary purpose uh to honor those Greek
8. 0:38Americans who have through their
9. 0:40lifelong dedication committed to
10. 0:43strengthening the relationships between
11. 0:45our two countries and the same will be
12. 0:48done again today and uh this sort of
13. 0:53gathering every September has become
14. 0:54sort of an institution. This time I have
15. 0:57the privilege of coming to New York
16. 0:59after having spent two days in
17. 1:02California. Lieutenant Governor Eleni
18. 1:05Kunalaki, thank you so much for helping
19. 1:08us to arrange what was I think a very
20. 1:12very successful
21. 1:14visit. And as I was uh in California
22. 1:18speaking to the big technology
23. 1:20companies, but also connecting with the
24. 1:23amazing uh Greek and Greek American
25. 1:26community that is active in tech. I was
26. 1:28thinking of how much indeed the country
27. 1:31has changed uh over these past five
28. 1:34years since we um first had this
29. 1:38gathering.
30. 1:40Greece is now one of the leaders in
31. 1:43terms of the digital transformation of
32. 1:45the state. We have
33. 1:49an active role in shaping European
34. 1:52policies when it comes to artificial
35. 1:55intelligence.
36. 1:57And for me it is a signal of the vision
37. 2:01that we have for Greece to speak about
38. 2:05Greece as a booming technology hub. Not
39. 2:08just as a country that welcomes more
40. 2:11than 40 million tourists a year, but as
41. 2:13a country that can really grasp the big
42. 2:16challenges of the future and boldly
43. 2:18assess its role in the shaping events
44. 2:22and in the emerging technologies that
45. 2:25will shape our lives. over the next
46. 2:28years because indeed as I look at where
47. 2:31the country is today, what I can tell
48. 2:34you is that we continue to remain a
49. 2:38pillar of stability in a very turbulent
50. 2:42region. A country that is outperforming
51. 2:46most of our European peers when it comes
52. 2:48to a growth rate. and a country that a
53. 2:52decade after the worst of the financial
54. 2:54crisis is now serving as a model of
55. 2:58fiscal discipline
56. 3:01compared to our European partners. I
57. 3:04don't think many people would have
58. 3:06placed a bet that in 2026
59. 3:11Greece would be able to borrow on the
60. 3:13international bond markets at a rate
61. 3:16that is lower than that of four out of
62. 3:19the seven G7 countries. And I think this
63. 3:22speaks volumes.
64. 3:28This speaks volumes of the progress that
65. 3:30the country has made over the past
66. 3:34years. I remember that when the Greek
67. 3:39people first placed their trust in me
68. 3:41and my government back in 2019,
69. 3:44unemployment in Greece was at 18%.
70. 3:49It was at the 2019, the end of a very
71. 3:53difficult decade for Greece, where more
72. 3:55than 500,000 Greeks had actually left
73. 3:58the country to seek um uh employment
74. 4:00opportunities abroad. And if I look at
75. 4:03the state of our job market today,
76. 4:05unemployment has dropped under 8%. We
77. 4:08have created close to 600,000
78. 4:12new jobs. These are most of them are
79. 4:14well-paying jobs. If I look at the
80. 4:16average salary in Greece, it has
81. 4:18increased uh significantly.
82. 4:21And most importantly, those same people
83. 4:25who abandoned the country in search of a
84. 4:28better future are actually seriously
85. 4:30contemplating to return to Greece. Why
86. 4:33are they doing this? Because they
87. 4:34believe in the long-term prospect of the
88. 4:37country. And this is the most important
89. 4:39vote of confidence for this government
90. 4:42to continue implementing difficult
91. 4:45reforms which will benefit all Greeks
92. 4:49once they are properly executed.
93. 4:53And uh the overall state uh of the
94. 4:56economy puts us in a position to be one
95. 5:00of the few governments that today has
96. 5:02the ability to support the Greek people
97. 5:06especially those who are in greater need
98. 5:08against the cost of living crisis which
99. 5:10as you know is a global problem faced by
100. 5:13all governments in the western world. I
101. 5:17was in Thessaloniki
102. 5:19a few weeks ago to announce a support
103. 5:24program that exceeds€2 billion euros in
104. 5:27order to offer some support to those
105. 5:30Greeks who are in greater need and who
106. 5:32are struggling to make ends meet. But I
107. 5:35was also very very clear that we will no
108. 5:39matter what maintain our commitment to
109. 5:43fiscal discipline. This is what's got us
110. 5:46to the point where we are today.
111. 5:48Restoring the credibility of Greece in
112. 5:50the international financial markets is
113. 5:52the bedrock. It is a foundation upon
114. 5:55which our policies are based. And it is
115. 5:58always tempting as you approach a next
116. 6:01election to believe that if you can
117. 6:04spend a little bit more, you can make
118. 6:07yourself slightly more um popular and
119. 6:10increase the chances of winning an
120. 6:11election. I do not believe that this
121. 6:14will be the right approach. We have
122. 6:16worked way too hard over the past eight
123. 6:20years to ensure that Greece will never
124. 6:23ever return to the dark ages of the
125. 6:26previous decade in order to derate
126. 6:31this progress that we have that we have
127. 6:34achieved.
128. 6:36But uh at the same time apart from
129. 6:40strengthening our economy you know
130. 6:42supporting people in greater need we are
131. 6:45also very much aware that we are
132. 6:48currently uh
133. 6:50finding ourselves in very turbulent
134. 6:53times in a very very complicated
135. 6:55neighborhood. I am very proud ladies and
136. 6:58gentlemen that over the past uh seven
137. 7:01years we have significantly strengthened
138. 7:04our armed forces. This has been the
139. 7:07biggest renovation program that any
140. 7:10Greek government has ever embarked and
141. 7:13uh we are very much aware that with the
142. 7:16challenges that we face, we need
143. 7:19credible deterrent capability and this
144. 7:22is exactly what we are building and what
145. 7:24we will continue to build over the next
146. 7:28years. I've said it many times, I will
147. 7:32repeat it today. Greece is a peaceful
148. 7:34country and we always seek to have good
149. 7:36and productive relationships with our
150. 7:38neighbors, in particular Turkey. We are
151. 7:41threatening no one, but we will also not
152. 7:45accept to be threatened by anyone. And I
153. 7:48want this to be absolutely clear.
154. 7:57At the same time, we are forced to face
155. 8:01challenges of a new nature. Ling Greece
156. 8:04has been one of those countries which
157. 8:06has been rather successful in managing
158. 8:08the migration problem. You may remember
159. 8:11back in 2020, it was six months after we
160. 8:15first got elected into power. We were
161. 8:17faced on our border with Turkey, on our
162. 8:20land border with Turkey, which was was
163. 8:22essentially a hybrid attack against our
164. 8:25territory. We stood up at that time. We
165. 8:29said we will defend our border. We
166. 8:32protected our border and not only that,
167. 8:34we convinced the European Union to
168. 8:37change its approach towards migration in
169. 8:40order to place a much greater emphasis
170. 8:43on the protection of the external
171. 8:44borders of the European Union. And I'm
172. 8:47saying this because Greece right now is
173. 8:50in a position to actually lead in Europe
174. 8:53in shaping critical policies that will
175. 8:56affect our common future. And I'm very
176. 8:59proud that I'm able to lead a government
177. 9:02that actually is expressing a strong
178. 9:06voice when it comes to important
179. 9:08European affairs. Just look at the
180. 9:11energy transition. Greece is a leader uh
181. 9:15in producing electricity uh from
182. 9:18renewable energy, but we're also very
183. 9:20much aware that for the foreseeable
184. 9:22future, we will be dependent on natural
185. 9:26gas in order to produce electricity and
186. 9:28to complement our significant renewable
187. 9:31capabilities. So, it is very important
188. 9:33that when we look at our partnership
189. 9:34with the United States, we're opening
190. 9:36new avenues of cooperation. Back in
191. 9:392019,
192. 9:41Greece was simply importing the natural
193. 9:44gas that was necessary to power its own
194. 9:48domestic system. Now, we're importing
195. 9:51significant natural gas through the
196. 9:53vertical corridor to send it towards our
197. 9:55northern um neighbors in order to
198. 9:58provide essentially energy security not
199. 10:01just for the Balkans but also for
200. 10:03Eastern Europe. This is a country that
201. 10:05is geopolitically punching above its
202. 10:07weight and is shaping new alliances with
203. 10:10the United States in areas which are
204. 10:13absolutely critical. I am very proud
205. 10:15that uh in a few months from now,
206. 10:18probably towards the spring of uh 2027,
207. 10:23we will have the first exploratory
208. 10:27drilling via consortium between Exxon
209. 10:31and a Greek company to drill for natural
210. 10:34gas since 1970. This is the first time
211. 10:38that this is happening in Greece.
212. 10:42Energy security and energy independence
213. 10:46are critical elements of geopolitical
214. 10:48strength and we intend to fully leverage
215. 10:52those to the benefit of our citizens.
216. 10:55Ladies and gentlemen, I don't want to
217. 10:57take up too much of your time because as
218. 10:59I said uh today's event is primarily
219. 11:02dedicated to honoring those who have
220. 11:06served this relationship uh over many
221. 11:09decades. But I do want to say a few
222. 11:12words again about this wonderful um
223. 11:15Greek American community which is
224. 11:17represented uh here uh today. I believe
225. 11:22that for the first time we have been
226. 11:25able to build really strong and
227. 11:27resilient bridges between the community,
228. 11:30the Greek and American community uh and
229. 11:33and Greece. Uh and uh these bridges need
230. 11:37to be further strengthened. But in my
231. 11:39mind, none is more important than the
232. 11:43important reform which we managed to
233. 11:46pass through parliament. Took us a lot
234. 11:48of efforts and it was not easy, which is
235. 11:51none other than giving you the right to
236. 11:55vote from where you actually live. You
237. 11:58no longer have to return to Greece to
238. 12:01cast your vote. There are options. you
239. 12:04can do it at uh at the consulate or you
240. 12:06can mail in your ballot in the next
241. 12:09election. So please for those of you who
242. 12:11actually have a right to vote uh in in
243. 12:14Greece uh the platform in order to make
244. 12:19your application uh is already open. We
245. 12:22are looking forward to your
246. 12:24participation. We care about your views.
247. 12:28We care about your opinion. And I also
248. 12:30do believe that when you live abroad and
249. 12:33you look at Greece from a certain
250. 12:36distance, geographical distance, not
251. 12:38emotional distance, let me make that
252. 12:40maybe make that absolutely clear. You
253. 12:43can also see things slightly more
254. 12:46clearly. You sort of rise above, you
255. 12:49know, the petty politics and the natural
256. 12:52political confrontation which is a part
257. 12:56of any democratic system. And I think
258. 13:00you know better than anybody else that
259. 13:03you have every right to feel proud about
260. 13:06the progress that the country has made.
261. 13:08And at the end of the day for me as a
262. 13:12prime minister of Greece there is no
263. 13:14greater satisfaction than going abroad.
264. 13:18uh and uh uh being asked one question
265. 13:21which I was asked yesterday at a very
266. 13:24interesting lunch I had at the Hoover
267. 13:28Institute. Uh
268. 13:31many leading US um uh
269. 13:36players in the international security um
270. 13:39establishment participated. So they
271. 13:40asked me one simple question. How did
272. 13:43you do it? How did you turn Greece
273. 13:46around? The truth is that Greece today
274. 13:50bears no comparison to where Greece was
275. 13:52in 2019. But it is also equally true
276. 13:55that this job is still unfinished. There
277. 13:59is a lot of work to be done. Many more
278. 14:03reforms to be implemented. Um a lot of
279. 14:06effort has to be um put uh into ensuring
280. 14:11that what we have achieved is
281. 14:13essentially irreversible. It was
282. 14:16mentioned before that we are seeking a
283. 14:20third term. But let me tell you this is
284. 14:23not about breaking records. This is
285. 14:25really about changing the country. This
286. 14:27is what drives me and what drives our
287. 14:30government to continue working very hard
288. 14:33to improve the lives of ordinary Greeks
289. 14:36but also strengthen the geopolitical and
290. 14:39economic position of Greece abroad. And
291. 14:42we approach this challenge with great
292. 14:45humility. We know very well that the
293. 14:48longer you stay in power, the greater
294. 14:51the perceived desire by some for some
295. 14:54sort of change. So we need to work twice
296. 14:57as hard to convince the Greek people
297. 15:00that we deserve their trust. And when I
298. 15:03look at what we promised the Greek
299. 15:06people in 2023 that we would do and I
300. 15:08look at our track record, I think we can
301. 15:11look ourselves in the mirror and say,
302. 15:12"Yes, we met most of them, if not all
303. 15:15the commitments that we made to Greeks
304. 15:18in 2023." And this is a stamp of uh of
305. 15:22of approval and of of confidence and of
306. 15:24trust uh on this contract that we signed
307. 15:28with the Greek people four years ago. So
308. 15:31if I can only uh express uh one uh uh
309. 15:35one personal wish is that uh I'm going
310. 15:38to be I hope I'll be able to join you
311. 15:41again next year. But this of course will
312. 15:43depend upon all of you. Thank you so
313. 15:45much. Thank you for the warm welcome.
314. 15:48Thank you for everything you do for
315. 15:50Greece and for the US Greek
316. 15:51relationship. Thank you.