The Prime Minister’s annual speech at the Thessaloniki International Fair contained a by now familiar recitation of the government’s successes, as well as a list of benefits from the country’s steadily improving economic situation which, he said, are being passed on to the ordinary citizen. He presented a detailed list of tax reliefs and incentives which citizens may benefit from up to the year 2030, together with specific timings, as well as plans for the continuing improvement of Greece’s economic situation, and for the continuing modernisation of every aspect of public life. But he also warned of difficulties ahead in international relations, and with national elections due by May 2027 made the case for a strong government which can provide continuity and withstand the troubled waters of geopolitical change.

On the afternoon of Saturday 5th September, shortly before the Prime Minister was due to give his speech, a Phantom F4 fighter jet of the Hellenic Air Force crashed in flames during an air show at the Tanagra air base north of Athens, killing the two pilots. He therefore started by expressing the nation’s grief at the event, and confirming that the State would support the bereaved families, especially their two underage children. (It is a tradition that children who lose a parent in such circumstances receive an annual stipend from Parliament until they reach the age of majority.)

Traditionally, each year a nation represented at the Fair is designated Honoured Nation, a status this year bestowed on Japan, whose Ambassador to Greece Koichi Ito and Minister in Charge of Growth Strategy Minoru Kiuchi were among the audience.

What follows is a translation of the official transcript of Mr Mitsotakis’s speech which was posted on the prime ministerial website at www.primeminister.gr. The subheadings are ours. A video of the entire speech can be found on the site, and on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2C3xw7q9PU.

The Prime Minister’s speech

Ladies and gentlemen, the tragic event at Tanagra a few hours ago unfortunately casts a shadow over our meeting today. The grief is general, and our thoughts go out to the families of the two pilots we have lost. [The accident is] a demonstration of the daily risks taken on by our Greek fliers, remaining in permanent readiness for the protection of the Greek skies. The State, in agreement with the President of Parliament Mr Nikitas Kaklamanis, will stand beside their relatives and especially the two underage children they leave behind them.

Your Holiness, Mr President of Parliament, dear Commissioner, dear Regional Governor, Mr Mayor of the city of Thessaloniki, fellow Ministers and MPs, representatives of this year’s honoured nation Japan, friends from beautiful Macedonia,

I am mounting this podium for the eighth time as Prime Minister, filled, I must confess, with many feelings. Proud of the important work which is being accomplished, but with full consciousness of the failures which remain to be corrected. Having a clear picture of the national challenges in a troubled international environment, but more experienced in the face of the complex manoeuvres which are needed.

But, to speak frankly, feeling more optimistic, ready and determined than ever. Optimistic because the time has come for our homeland, having now overcome what was holding it back, to enjoy the fruits of its efforts. Ready, because the firm foundations which we have laid in the economy, in society, in defence, allow us more quickly and effectively to build the Greece of 2030. And chiefly determined, because now the horizon is opening more broadly before us, while we have in our hands the necessary plan to conquer it more dependably and securely.

It is on this plan that I will focus in my speech, a few months before the next national elections. For this reason I have decided not to confine myself to a conventional government assessment, or to be content with a list of measures which will simply run out next year. On the contrary, my intention today is to describe a whole vision which is national in scope. A perspective which will be translated into specific, fully-costed measures, all articulated in a four-year time frame.

A vision of national scope
Τhe road map for 2027 comes first, of course. But it is also the prologue to our new programme, which is completing three cycles: The period 2019-2023 with the stabilisation of the country, with relief from the most burdensome taxes. The four years 2023-27 with its growth, better income and major, bold reforms. And finally, the progress towards 2031, with a leap in prosperity for citizens everywhere, from the urban centres to the most remote village and the smallest island.

That, moreover, is our central objective: for collective progress to be transformed into personal success. For the benefits of growth to return to the community as a share for each Greek man and Greek woman. But without ever, and I mean ever, endangering the financial stability which we have won with so much effort. It is a policy for the many, since I won’t hide from you the fact that the measures I am about to announce are the distillation of dozens, maybe hundreds of conversations with citizens, travelling throughout the nation.

I saw people of every profession acknowledging the strides that the economy has actually taken. At the same time, however, I felt their anxiety over high prices, their hopes of seeing this success truly reflected in their own wallets, without the worry of how they will get to the end of the month, whether their rent will increase, how their child will grow up. For this reason I believe that the time has come for social recompense. For the country’s strength to become the strength of every citizen.

I also heard about existing problems of maladministration and mismanagement. Because, you see, this contest with the deep state may have brought a few victories, but it has yet to decisively prevail in the war with the evils of the past. As I discovered with changes such as the gov.gr website, which no-one, but no-one a few years ago believed could happen in Greece. And yet today it is a reality.

I will add a parenthesis. You have only to visit the stall of the Ministry of Digital Governance in the Exhibition, where at the entrance there is a representation of the Greece of yesterday: that of bureaucracy, of faxes, of offices working without technological support. And I think that you did very well, Mr Minister ⁽¹⁾, to remind the citizens that all that was in the not-so-distant past. That was the Greece which we inherited. Today we are managing and developing the Greece of gov.gr.

(1) The current Minister of Digital Governance is Dimitris Papastergiou, who has held the position since June 2023.

The experience of this tremendous transformation can give us new impetus, to overturn those things which are still holding us back. In these same meetings with citizens it was clear – I think that one would have to be very ill-disposed not to admit it – that today they all feel safer and more sure of our homeland’s strength. However, the citizens still see threats persisting around them. Now in the form of sudden geopolitical changes, now in great uncertainty in economic matters – think of the current upheavals in the global bond markets – and now in the uncontrollable progress of artificial intelligence.

Internal political stability, then, the ability for someone to read economic, geopolitical and technological developments, all these acquire tremendous importance.

Progress for all
Travelling across Greece in this last year, finally, I saw clearly the great need for the country to converge more rapidly with Europe, but within the State for convergence between the centre and the regions. Its geographical unity thus also becomes social. Growth must affect all and must be fair.

Altogether then, I would say that if today we have succeeded in embarking on the right path at all levels, the time has come for us to significantly increase our speed. All that is crystallised in our new choices. They are choices which aim for the progress in numbers to pass into the daily life of each citizen and for national growth to be ultimately expressed in the budget of each household. The country’s prospects of retaining the young, giving our cities, villages and islands the same opportunities. For all Greeks to feel that their steps are secure, in an unstable world, at the same time ready to meet the future face to face.

If I had to put it more concisely, everything around us shows that we are living in a period of unprecedented change, and the citizens’ message is sounding loud and clear. What are they telling us? “We want security, a better present. We want to be prepared for an as yet unknown tomorrow.”

Yes, the country has progressed, has gained strength, has gained a voice, has gained influence. So from now on let this force of progress be effective for everyone. On a road which assuredly requires continuity and consistency, but ultimately is the only one which leads to clear horizons. European, economic, social horizons, so that on the foundations and the first floors which we have already built in those 7.5 years, we can finish building the Greece of 2030.

For this reason we are this year turning to the most dynamic levels of society and to the whole community at the same time: to the self-employed, to SMEs, to pensioners, to farmers, to public servants, employees in the private sector, the family, to families with three and more children, as well as to tenants.

Ladies and gentlemen, I will be clear, starting by describing our measures for the coming year. I know very well that the backbone of our economy are the self-employed professionals and smaller businesses. “So why are you burdening us with so much imputed income, while we have adopted the digital changes?” they asked me while I was sitting in a café. And they are right.

For this reason, we are now reducing the imputed income for reliable professionals, eliminating the two most important additions to their calculation: turnover and staff payroll. In settlements of under 2,000 permanent inhabitants – in Western Macedonia for obvious reasons we are raising the limit to 2,200 – the presumptions of income are reduced by half. This measure benefits altogether more than 155,000 professionals.

To give a simple example, take a hospitality business, here in Thessaloniki, 15 years old, with five employees and a payroll of €105,000. In reality, with the surcharges, this business was significantly burdened with the presumptions of income. The benefit from the measures we are taking is in excess of €2,500 a year.

In addition, from the next tax returns, in March, I want to remind you that all self-employed professionals will see less income tax, under the tax reforms which we have already passed in Parliament. A tax reform which, I would remind you, public and private sector employees have already seen in their payslips from the first month of the current year.

However, there is a further relief: from the tax year 2027 we are reducing the prepayment of tax from 55% to 50%, while from 2028, the same charge will be reduced by 5 percentage points annually for companies and organisations, gradually coming down from 80% to 50%.

We are talking, therefore, of a permanent measure on three levels, all of which focus on relief for professionals and SMEs.

Relief for farmers
On every visit I made to the regions, as you and your fellow MPs have experienced, especially those elected in the region, the first subject of discussion was the way in which the number of professional farmers can be increased and supported, how production can be modernised, and above all how relief can be given to those who work in crop production, in stock raising, keeping young people in the villages.

I noted those concerns and today the government is responding. How? By reducing income tax to zero for professional farmers with incomes of up to €20,000. Zero income tax for farmers with incomes of up to €20,000.

What does this mean in practice? A farmer who declares €20,000, instead of the €1,183 which he would be paying, now owes nothing. A farmer with an income of €30,000 – we are talking of successful farmers with major activity – would on the existing scale pay tax of €5,083. From now on that farmer will pay less than half, €2,183 to be exact, so they will be better off by €2,900 a year. This is a significant relief which in the first phase will affect almost 50,000 producers.

However, I also want to say something for the stock breeders, many of whom were hit this year by sheep pox, and unfortunately on the island of Lesbos also by foot and mouth disease. You know that the state has stood beside you from the first moment, with compensation and coverage of lost income.

But I know that that is not enough. Very shortly therefore – and that is a personal challenge and a central priority – we will have a complete framework for a full reset of stockbreeding, which will fortify our breeders permanently against diseases. I will repeat: the government will claim extra European funds and it is my commitment that the flocks which were lost will be reconstituted as soon as possible.

And all that, I want to remind you, while in the primary sector decisions which we have already taken continue to apply: from cheaper electricity and the return of the special consumer tax on diesel at the pump, to more favourable VAT rates for fertiliser and animal feeds. The same applies, of course, to the abolition of the ENFIA in regional areas.

Chiefly, however, the new system of European subsidies which is now administered through the AADE. A decades-old problem is finally finding a bold solution and with the last payment which we made, the majority of farmers and stockbreeders know that in this way they will receive more money. This the best justification for the political choice which we made.⁽²⁾

(2) Following the OPEKEPE scandal of the misuse of European farm subsidies, that organisation was closed down and the administration of EU agricultural subsidies passed to the AADE.

Help for pensioners
The third front, the pensioners. Often, when we meet, we still hear them say: “What about us, Prime Minister?” I can announce to them, therefore, that the annual November supplement firstly is extended to all those over the age of 65, but also the amount is increased immediately from €300 to €400 net. Consequently, 2.2 million beneficiaries, from this November and, I emphasise, every November, will see their receipts increased by roughly the amount of one [monthly] national pension payment – net.

I will take the opportunity to remind you that in the meantime the reduction in widow’s pensions introduced by the Tsipras-Katrougalos law has been abolished. With the new adjustments and the increases, a female pensioner with a monthly net income of €823 will receive an additional €208 from the annual pension increase, i.e. with the €400 from the supplement, a total of €608 net. For a pensioner with an income of €1,086, the benefit will be €684. A well-off pensioner with a pension of €1,716 will get up to €849 net. So here again we are talking of almost one full pension payment extra.

Turning to the public sector now, after 15 years, from 2027, there will be a Christmas bonus of €500 for 720,000 public sector employees. It is a permanent enhancement which will also apply to pension income. Together with the annual increases, a 40-year-old-employee with two children and a net income of €1,450 will see a net increase of €562 in 2027 and a further €402 in 2028, i.e. a total of €964. A younger public sector employee with a salary of €1,123 will receive €609 net in 2027 and a further €424 in 2028. Thus we are talking about an additional income of €1,033, almost one extra salary payment.

I remind you that on Monday the Finance Ministry will as usual give a major press conference which will present all the measures, with more specific examples.

Savings and tax relief
This year also, I am pleased to announce a measure which I believe is highly innovative, and I dare say ground-breaking. A measure which I believe will provide overall encouragement to the savings culture in our homeland.

For the first time we are establishing an account which parents can open in the first two years from the birth of each child. In this account the State will deposit the same amount as is deposited by the parent, up to €1,200. A hundred euros from the parent, a hundred euros from the state. We are creating a “piggy bank for the young generation”.

What does this mean? It means that a child who has already been born or who will be born, at 18 years – because up to then, I must emphasise, the capital will be frozen – if the parents choose to save €100 per month, at 18 they will have more than €60,000 as the basis for starting their adult life. Because it is not enough for us to look only at the present, we must also look to the future.

In the same area, that of demographics, I would remind you that last year’s tax reform was focussed on reducing the tax burden for families with children. We introduced some bold measures for our fellow citizens with three children. However, together with the team at the Finance Ministry we have decided that we want to go a step further.

So what did we do? Zero tax for 87,000 three-child families with incomes of up to €20,000. Zero. A salaried employee with three children, if they had an annual income of €20,000 would have been paying tax of €620, now they will pay nothing. A self-employed person with an income of €15,000 will save a total of up to €1,350.

But not only this. We are also increasing the special allowance for families with multiple children by €1,000 for each additional child born in our country. Today a family which acquires a fourth child receives €3,500, now it will receive €4,500. A family with five children will receive €5,500 and so on for each additional child, for large multi-child families.

I have asked the Finance Ministry to backdate this for births from 1st January 2026, which will essentially support thousands of multi-child families.

The minimum wage
Dear friends, private sector employees are benefiting in their turn from the increase in the minimum salary – I will talk about this shortly; from the new 0.5% reduction in insurance contributions – from next April I would remind you; but also from the reliefs which are already under way.

Today, then, I can now tell you with certainty. From 2023 we had set a target, which was a central commitment of ours in our pre-election programme. We said then that in 2027 the minimum salary would reach €950. I can now tell you with certainty that in 2027 the minimum salary will exceed the €950 we had set as a target. We said it and we are doing it. And the aim, to put it simply, is for it to reach €1,000 in January 2028.

On the basis of the above, a young person on the basic salary will see a benefit of €414 in 2027, and a total of €1,040 by 2028. An employee with three three-year periods of employment – I would remind you that the minimum salary is increased on a three-yearly basis – who is receiving €959 net, will have an increase which by 2028 will reach €1055 in total.

Reduced prices on food and power
We are talking about 2.5 million of our fellow citizens who are producers, but are suffering and struggling with everyday expenses. It is therefore fair to support their income, together with other important initiatives which we have undertaken to curtail families’ outgoings.

I would note on the one side, the effort to reduce prices on a series of selected products on the supermarket shelves. An effort which is already bringing the first results. On the other, also for electricity, which is also a burden on household budgets, our aim during the next three years is a 30% reduction in the price of electricity.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of the Environment and Energy in its turn will hold a press conference to present the very important energy-saving measures which have already been set in motion, as well as the action plan for how we will achieve this important target. The first thing we will do, from January, however, is to halve the Community Benefit Services charge on all domestic power bills, i.e. for more than 6 million supplies.

Why are we able to do that? We can do that because we have invested in renewable energy sources, we have invested in interconnections between our islands, and this policy, please note, despite what you may hear, is keeping electricity prices 19% lower than the European norm.

This policy has recently enabled the Public Power Corporation [the DEI] to introduce even more competitive rates for its fixed tariff. As you may remember, 11.5 cents per kWh. Whoever is concerned about the progress of prices can now lock in this fixed price for the new year and we could not, dear friends, have the DEI make such a move if we had not revitalised the organisation and made it a national leader. It is the healthy and profit-making DEI which is able to support Greek consumers in these difficult times. We are also going to announce a major heat pump subsidy for 100,000 qualifying households. More from the Ministry of the Environment and Energy next Tuesday.

Indexation of disability benefits
Turning now to the social sector and specifically to our fellow citizens with disabilities, let me mention a further significant intervention. This is something which the disability movement has been asking us for for many years – none other than the indexation of all disability benefits. In this way 220,000 citizens will have an additional annual benefit of an average €220, as the increase they receive will follow inflation and the growth of GDP. This is an omission which comes from the past and which fortunately is being corrected today.

It is worth adding to the above that from 2027 we are extending the abolition of ENFIA to 131 more settlements, taking the total number to 12,855. The tax in question will no longer be levied on 650,000 owners, so as to give practical support to the Greek regions.

Addressing the housing problem
On the subject of the big housing problem, I would remind you of the measures already in place such as the returns of rental, the exemption from income tax for empty properties which are rented out, the discounts on renovation expenses, and finally the restrictions on short-term rentals.

These measures will now be complemented by a new subsidy programme, “My Home III”, to the value of €2 billion, with the aim of supplementing 40,000 cases of young people, young couples who will acquire their first home through this process. I would remind you that already 25,000 of our fellow citizens have managed to acquire their own house with a subsidised housing loan, that is to say they pay less in repayment instalments than they would have to pay in rental for an equivalent house.

Indeed, from my contacts with the younger generation I know very well how complex this problem is. Believe me, it is not only a Greek one, and for that reason it will be set as a priority for all EU member states in the agenda of the forthcoming Greek presidency.

For the moment, I have spoken about incentives but I will also mention a disincentive which we are introducing, relating to the recent tendency towards the maintenance of high prices. We have taken the decision to increase the transfer tax from 3% to 15% for buyers coming from third countries outside the EU. Why? Because the interest from states such as China, Turkey and Israel may to some extent be welcome, but it has created an environment in which in many areas of the country it has become very difficult for Greeks to acquire their own home.

Businesses and growth
I will close this chapter with three decisions regarding businesses and growth. The first may sound technocratic but it is very important. I am referring to the transfer of €1.5 billion from the Recovery Fund to the Hellenic Growth Bank. The aims is for this money to be used exclusively for SMEs which have difficulty in accessing bank loans. Specifically with a lending plan of €1.1 billion and a guarantee plan of €400 million, with the participation of the banks, support for SMEs will reach €5 billion.

Secondly, we took the decision to speed up the depreciation period for businesses renewing their equipment from ten to six years. A very important tax adjustment that encourages businesses to invest more in the overall modernisation of their equipment.

Our third decision has, I believe, its own exceptional importance, since it effectively abolishes the last memorandum law. The annual business tax (telos epitidevmatos) is abolished from 2027 for legal entities with their headquarters or branches outside Attica, including the Regional Unit of the Islands ⁽³⁾. While in Attica also, the business tax is reduced by 50% from 2028 and abolished entirely from 2029. Mr Mayor, to put it simply, a retail business with its seat here in Thessaloniki or with a branch in Thessaloniki, which pays €1,600 in 2026, will pay nothing in 2027.

(3) Part of the Region of Attica, the Regional Unit of the Islands covers the Saronic Islands, a small part of the Peloponnese peninsula, and a few islands off the eastern Peloponnese coast.

I will add one more decision of tax justice but also, I believe, of common sense. Since it has been found that there are cases in which members of management boards or senior executives receive exceptionally high rewards from company profits, which today are taxed at only 5%, a change is being introduced. These incomes, if they exceed €60,000, will be taxed at 15%, which I think everyone can agree is fair.

Costs of the programme
Dear friends, the programme which I have presented to you will cost €2.2 billion in 2027. Up to 2030, the cost will be nearly €3.5 billion. I want to repeat that we are moving within the limits of the existing fiscal headroom. My choosing to mention specific examples was not fortuitous. It is a way of explaining that our economic policy ultimately contains a benefit for every citizen.

It also demonstrates how difficult it is to try to support incomes without in any way risking economic stability. I want to repeat, and to remind the opposition parties: exceeding the spending limits set by the European Union will automatically – I repeat automatically – lead to European supervision.

It is however important that these practical references, for each profession, each measure, each net receipt, also constitute a standard of realism and seriousness. To put it differently, a “passport” of trustworthiness. Just as last year we implemented 100% of the measures which I announced from this platform, so this year exactly the same thing will happen with the measures which I am presenting to you now. This carefully considered plan is essentially part of a “diary” of social recompense, with scheduled commitments, ultimately open to the citizens’ judgement. And it is starting immediately. Please note the dates and the measures.

A diary of measures – 2026
— On 25th September 2026 a double rental payment will be made to teachers, doctors and nurses working in the regions, also backdated to the 2024 financial year. An initiative which has been announced is now being put into practice. ⁽⁴⁾
— On 1st November 2026, the Special Consumption Tax on fuel for farmers will be returned via the system at the pump, exactly as they asked us. A measure which helps the primary sector, alleviating the consequences of the energy crisis.
— On 30th November 2026, in two and half months from now, the now permanent benefit of €400 net will be paid to pensioners over the age of 65, to all pensioners over 65, but also to the disabled and the uninsured elderly. While on the same day all tenants will receive one or two rental instalments for the year 2025.
— At the end of December 2026 the annually increased pensions for January will be paid for the first time at a rate derived from the calculation of inflation and GDP. I emphasise, now without being offset by the personal difference. ⁽⁵⁾

(4) See: https://en.protothema.gr/2026/08/29/rent-refund-key-dates-for-payments-and-who-will-receive-two-months-rent/
(5) The “personal difference” (prosopiki diafora) in the Greek pension system is the financial gap which resulted when older main pensions were recalculated under newer, unified rules. If the payment under the old rules was higher than under the new system, the difference was recorded as the “personal difference” and set against future increases in the general pension scheme. As a result, people whose pensions were still calculated under the old scheme were disadvantaged with the passage of time.

A diary of measures – 2027
— On 1st January 2027 income tax is reduced to zero for all three-child families with incomes of up to €20,000, disabled pensions are indexed, and the Community Benefit Services charge is reduced by half on all domestic power supplies.
— Finally, in the same month the “Piggy Bank for the New Generation” goes into operation for parents and the State, while the “My Home III” programme to provide affordable housing for the young and middle aged starts. The latter because we aim to increase the age range for our citizens who may be up to 50 and want to be admitted to the programme. Implementation will start at the beginning of January.
— In the middle of March 2027, with the new ENFIA assessments, the tax in question is abolished for settlements of up to 2,000 inhabitants, up to 2,200 inhabitants in Western Macedonia. As a result this charge will cease to be levied in a large part of the Greek regions.
— From mid-March to mid-June – the period of tax returns – the approved reductions in tax amounting to €884 million will be applied, mainly to the self-employed and farmers. I remind you you that the self-employed and farmers have yet to see the tax reductions which were voted in by Parliament. You will see them in April and May.
— On 1st April the minimum wage is increased, bringing simultaneously an across-the-board increase to public sector salaries, benefits and the three-yearly increases. At the same time the insurance contributions for private-sector employees are reduced by half a per cent.
— On 30th November 2027 the return of one month’s rent will again be paid, double for doctors, nurses and teachers. Pensioners will again receive the annual benefit of €400 net.
— At the end of December next year, those who are eligible will receive their annually increased pensions, while public-sector employees will for the first time receive the permanent €500 bonus, which will be included with their pension.

What does all this mean? Before us we have a complex of initiatives, aimed at targets in many different fields. At the increase of salaries and pensions alongside reliefs from taxation. At the fair distribution of the resources we have at our disposal to the whole social spectrum, and between the centre and the regions. At interventions in key issues such as energy and housing. At care for the weakest, but also obviously at the maintenance of growth. It is this growth that can fund collective benefits.

And all this fully costed and chronologically calculated so as to further that “arc” of national recovery which began from 2019. The point when Greece began to fight back, to run and to recover the lost ground of that decade-long crisis, so that its economy could be reset. When we began to reduce unemployment – a fact worth repeating, as it is a very great success of our economic policy. It was 18% in 2019 and it fell below 8%, to 7.9% to be exact, in the second quarter of 2026. Creating 600,000 new jobs, achieving investment status, constantly reducing the public debt, because only thus is the new generation relieved from the weight of the preceding ones.

Dear Ambassador, Mr Minister of Japan, Greece today – please take note – is borrowing more cheaply in the markets than four of the seven countries of the G7, the biggest economies in the world. It borrows more cheaply than the UK, it borrows more cheaply than France, it borrows more cheaply than Italy.

This is the biggest legacy of the full restoration of fiscal order, something which is exceptionally important – as the Finance Minister knows well – in a period of great upheaval in the international bond market. The markets are unforgiving and they do not hesitate to punish whichever country strays outside the framework of fiscal discipline, as they perceive it.

And indeed, in that space of seven years, the cuts have started to give way to increases, taxes to reliefs, the government has proved resilient in the face of major and successive crises, from immigration and the pandemic to sudden natural disasters, while our Armed Forces have started to receive Belharra frigates, Rafael fighter jets, ultramodern weapons and drones, and indeed to receive modern training.

Developments in Thessaloniki
Undoubtedly then, the Greece of 2026 has no relation with the Greece of 2019, or even of 2023. Look around you a little in Thessaloniki, the Deputy Minister for Macedonia and Thrace has said it well. ⁽⁶⁾

(6) Konstantinos Gkioulekas is the current Deputy Minister of Macedonia and Thrace in the Ministry of the Interior.

The Thessaloniki Metro has now been delivered complete with its 18 stations, something which enables us to plan the Metro’s extension towards north-west Thessaloniki. The Patras-Pirgos highway, the E65, such an important road to bring Western Macedonia out of its isolation. The Flyover – you can see it every day when you travel on the ring road, Mr Commissioner ⁽⁷⁾ – is proceeding at a fast pace, and when it is completed it will provide a very important alleviation of the city’s traffic problem. And here, in this same city, a dream is being put onto practice – as we saw in the very fine video which was shown earlier – the complete modernisation of the site of the Thessaloniki International Fair.

We took account, Mr Mayor ⁽⁸⁾, of the city’s concerns, we spent money from the Public Expenditure Programme, and the city will acquire a large park and an ultramodern exhibition centre, as it deserves. The project encountered great problems, but finally we were able to get it under way.

(7) Apostolos Tzitzikostas, the European Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, was present at the 90th Thessaloniki International Fair where he inaugurated the Pavilion of the European Commission Representation in Greece.
(8) The current mayor of Thessaloniki is Stelios Angeloudis, who took office on January 1, 2024.

Public health and education
In this country – as we speak today, most of them have been completed – 80 hospitals and 156 health centres are being renovated. Yesterday I was at the Papanikolaou hospital ⁽⁹⁾ to inaugurate the most modern haematology centre in the whole country, which was funded by the Recovery Fund, here in Thessaloniki.

Seven million people have already had free preventive examinations and we have secured national funding so that this very important public health achievement can continue. Because everything we spend on prevention actually serves public health, which catches illnesses before our fellow citizens arrive at the hospitals.

For serious illnesses, Mr Minister ⁽¹⁰⁾, it is a major achievement that the drugs are now brought to patients’ homes and we do not oblige cancer sufferers, our seriously ill fellow citizens, to wait in the “queues of shame” of the Public Health system.

(9) The “George Papanikolaou” General Hospital of Thessaloniki.
(10) Presumably the Minister of Health Adonis Georgiadis.

To education. I have visited only one of the 17 brand new schools which have been built in the Western Macedonia Region via public-private partnerships and I saw the joy in the eyes of the young children. The school I visited was a primary one. Soon a school will open its doors which is truly worthy of the expectations of our pupils and teachers.

But at the same time, through the “Marietta Giannakou” programme, we have already made interventions in 700 schools throughout the nation. Because our children finally deserve our investment in good built infrastructure, in accessible spaces, in sports fields.

And indeed, teaching is becoming more interactive, together with the digital frontistirio, and all that while the digital gov.gr platform is providing more and more convenient services.

A series of small revolutions
What does all this amount to? They are many small revolutions, and I can assure you that none of them was self-evident.

I would simply recall here that, finally, postal voting has been established, and voting for expats. Greeks living abroad can at last vote, without any impediment, at their place of permanent residence, either in person at consulates or by a postal vote if they so choose. The relevant platform is already in operation.

And also, we have won, despite the “rearguard actions”, the struggle for private universities.

Cameras now maintain order on streets and sports grounds. In the schools of our public universities the spaces which were under occupation have become libraries. Yes, I am particularly proud that in our country today, there is not a single active occupation in any public university. It is an ideological fight which has been won by this party.

Electronic transactions, much as they were doubted by some, are the ones which combat tax evasion and have today given us the possibility of presenting a broad programme of social support.

EFKA is now quickly issuing pensions. The years-long waits have been forgotten. Here too, normality has been restored, with pensions being issued within two to three months.

The digital work card safeguards employees. It was put into practice by a liberal, socially sensitive centre-right government and not by left-wing governments. Thus we showed in a practical way our interest in the world of work.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Greek state, for the first time in its history, has a national Land Registry. We received it 38% complete, now it is 99% complete.

Many of these activities were paid for by the Recovery Fund, targeted at the community and development. I repeat, a national success with achievements which some might have thought could be taken for granted. I can assure you that it was not at all like that.

Improvements in the quality of life
The road from impoverishment to the vanguard and from the margins of Europe to its centre was a long one. And the progress of public opinion from misleading untruths to veracity was not at all easy.

We need only think of a country besieged by tens of thousands of immigrants, which now maintains the integrity of its frontiers. Spare a thought for the islands of the Eastern Aegean. Go to Lesbos and recall the image of an island “sinking” under 30,000 illegal immigrants and refugees. Today there are something over 300. And instead of immigrants and refugees we have Turkish visitors, who we welcome as they support the local economy.

A country, then, which had no voice abroad and is now an interlocutor of equal standing at all levels of international diplomacy.

An energy hub. I would remind you, Madame Ambassador ⁽¹¹⁾, that in the first half of 2027, the first exploratory drilling in our country will take place after 40 and more years.

(11) US Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle represented the United States at the 90th Thessaloniki International Fair and the Southeast Europe Energy Forum held in the city.

A country which did not even have the “112” [European emergency number] now has one of the most modern civil protection systems in Europe.

The contrast is crucial in all sectors. For example in athletic facilities throughout the nation, which are bringing successive victories for the Greek colours in all sports.

And something which is of special importance for Thessaloniki: as the state has supported the creation of large sports facilities throughout the country, in the same way it will provide practical support for the new Toumba stadium. The aim is for work to start in the summer of 2027, so that Thessaloniki acquires a sports ground worthy of PAOK’s history, together with a completely modernised quarter.

And similar progress – we don’t often talk about that but it must be said – is being registered in culture. In this intangible national asset, which is silently transformed into strength of the economy, strength of local communities, into a branch of tourism, but also a symbol of our international presence.

I want to remind you that in the term of this government 34 new museums, accessible to all, have been delivered, such as the “Thessaloniki Metropolis”. Also, more than 200 archaeological sites have been highlighted, such as here in the city’s many Byzantine and Ottoman monuments, while the Hellenic Heritage ecosystem ⁽¹²⁾ is already digitally upgrading the whole visitor experience to 350 cultural sites, while our audio-visual industry is developing at a very fast rate.

(12) See: https://www.hh.gr/en/

The road ahead
Ladies and gentlemen, we are not here today for a detailed report on what has been and is being done. And if I mention a few of these things, I do it because it is useful to have in our minds not only what we want today but from where we began, without amnesia turning into complacency. And one obvious question: whether this progress could finally end in misadventure, blowing up the country’s achievements to date. Or conversely whether, despite the difficulties, it ultimately signals its only sure prospect for the future.

New challenges, however, are arising towards 2030. Allow me, very briefly, to dwell on seven clear targets – commitments of our economic policy for the next four years.

Unemployment in our country will be below 6%. We will finally reach the European average.

The economy will have annual growth of over 2%, double, in any case, the European norm, so that the average salary exceeds €1,800, while the basic salary increases steadily. I say it again, from January 2028 it will be €1,000. To put it another way, in 18 months from now there will be no three-figure monthly salary for full-time employment in our country.

Investments are at €46 billion now, the aim is for them to reach €65 billion, by far exceeding 20% of GDP. We need to cover this distance which still separates us from Europe on the investment front.

The debt will continue to drop sharply. It will have fallen below 120% of GDP in 2029, below 110% of GDP in 2030.

Yes, our aim is for Greek creditworthiness to achieve the higher middle-A rating. This is a national target which we can and must achieve. You will say to me, “What does it matter to the ordinary citizen what credit rating the country has?” It matters a great deal. It means more favourable loan rates for the State, more favourable rates for businesses, for citizens, but finally it also means more fiscal flexibility.

It is not the time today to talk in broad detail about the plan for the four-year period 2027-2031. I have quoted a series of specific targets, which I believe demonstrate its dual direction. On the one side the continual stimulation of incomes, so that the benefits to the public purse are transferred to each citizen. On the other, the continuation of the nation’s growth. All of that alongside our given defence enhancement and the steady support of the weakest elements.

In other words, this new challenge is embodied in 10 steps, the most critical being the quality of growth and the increase in productivity. By 2031, manufacturing must reach 12% of GDP. 300,000 SMEs must enter the age of artificial intelligence and industrial automatism.

And yes, investments must achieve a new record. It is these investments which feed growth, it is they which bring wealth to the public purse, to employment, to society. I am speaking of private investments, I am speaking of public investments, of investments which are funded from private resources, from national resources, from European resources.

The second big step which we are called on to take is to finally build, definitively and irreversibly, a State of rules, and not of personal mediations through transactional “loopholes”.

The key here is Constitutional Reform, which will upgrade public life, with progressive measures: from fiscal responsibility to the revision of article 86 on the responsibility of ministers, and from the connection between performance and assessment in the public sector – an important institutional initiative and a major chapter for a new Constitution – to a modern framework which will guarantee the independent operation of institutions.

The next, third step: Greece must find itself in the top 10 European states as regards the speed and quality of Justice. It is something which will be assisted by the digital file for judges, but also, now, the parallel capacity for citizens themselves to follow the progress of their case. Together with special sections based on the subject of the case, the doubling of out-of-court settlements, the extension of the new judicial charter to administrative justice.

Here I want to highlight the very great success of a silent reform. The new judicial charter, which essentially abolished the Magistrates’ Courts, gave us more human resources, enabling us to significantly speed up the dispensation of justice, something which had already started in the country’s Courts of First Instance.

To education. The new school will take the lead. We are completing this great national dialogue on the school of the future. The strengthening and establishment of the National School-leaving Certificate as the main gateway to university. On a school which goes beyond memorisation in teaching, which cultivates skills, critical thinking, which utilises technology, with great emphasis on technical education, which needs to be socially destigmatised in our country. So that we can encourage pupils to turn towards technical education, which offers better, more secure jobs, better paid jobs.

Our aim is for the country to be in the top 25% of European performers in basic skills, in this way combining learning with professional rehabilitation.

The fifth leap which we are called upon to make is related to housing, affordable housing, chiefly for the young generation. With the availability of 20,000 new and renovated houses, with a further 8,500 beds for students – student halls of residence have already started to be built – with 10,000 people qualifying for first residence schemes, with 2,000 new apartments for Armed Forces personnel. With the responsible Ministry, with the new body for housing policy, we will work towards making maximum use of publicly-owned property.

The sixth leap which we are called upon to make relates to the primary sector, for the regeneration of the regions. The challenge here is simple: to increase productivity per stremma and per worker with the aim of creating many more exports.

This means many things: land consolidation – something we have neglected for many years, a full geoinformational register of agricultural land, precision agriculture, “smart” irrigation, more greenhouses, cooperative schemes, agrifood centres in the supply chain throughout the country, an emphasis on education – we must train our young farmers – Agricultural Ηigh Schools, new agricultural training centres.

The next step, a green and resilient Greece. Tremendous reforms, which have already started to be put in place, the transfer of Planning departments to the national Land Registry. The enhancement of Civil Protection. The further introduction of renewable energy sources and electrical interconnections.

I say again, it is the renewable energy sources and the interconnections which have enabled us to transform the country from an importer of electrical energy to an exporter, and it is precisely these investments which enable us in the end to have competitive energy prices.

Chiefly, however, a tremendous national challenge for the next four years is water management. We took a first major step, we need to proceed by uniting 700 different bodies which we have today outside EYDAP and ΕΥΑΤΗ [the big water companies supplying Attica and Thessaloniki respectively]. We need to proceed with a central plan of works, to have digital monitoring of losses and the linking of charges with the correct use of this valuable resource.

The next leap which we are called upon to make concerns public administration. Yes, I believe in our civil servants, we can have one of the best public administrations in Europe in terms of quality of services, digital governance and the use of artificial intelligence. In the next three years all civil servants, all without exception, need to be trained in the use of AI to improve their productivity.

We want not only more gov.gr, we want the abolition of bureaucracy. Today if you want to open a gymnasium you need 17 different supporting documents. Of those 17, the “smart” gov.gr could extract 14 from already existing databases. This means a real reduction in bureaucracy in serving the public.

And this technology can be spread everywhere: in health, where tremendous steps are being taken, in education, in price monitoring, in public contracts – artificial intelligence can help us to improve the effectiveness of the way in which we tender projects and conclude public contracts – in the policing of roads. Cameras have already made their appearance on many roads in Attica.

Here let me make special reference to the fact that in the August which has just passed, we have had half the number of fatal accidents nationally that we did in 2025. Something is finally changing and we are ceasing to be the leaders in this senseless death toll which Greek society suffered every year.

It is our commitment that all children should have preschool activity. We want 50,000 more vouchers. We want to extend the “Dadades tis yeitonias” [Neighbourhood Nannies] scheme. ⁽¹³⁾

(13) The “Neighbourhood Nannies” programme provides monthly subsidies to support the care of infants and toddlers aged from 2 months to 2.5 years. Employment is open to both professional caregivers and family members such as grandparents, with remuneration of up to €500 a month. See: Protothema.gr.

And yes, the big challenge which is coming from the future and already knocking on our door is the long-term care of our elderly. This will be a big issue in the coming four years.

More programmes of preventive medicine. From 2027 we will start free dental examinations for more than 300,000 children aged 5 to 14. We will bring back the Dentist Pass, which was so successful. Targeted compensation for systems of continuous glucose monitoring for Type 2 diabetes patients.

And the tenth leap – which could also have been mentioned as the first – is non-negotiable and concerns national defence. In 2030 Greece will complete a very important plan of defence enhancement, with Rafales, with Belharras, with F-35 fighters, with the “Achilles Shield” which will protect the skies from every threat, with the new Canadairs – I want to remind you that our country will be the first to take delivery of the new ultramodern Canadair 515s in 2028, which will be able to fly at night – with a modern and well-trained Police force.

Government and the opposition
Ladies and gentlemen, the word “horizon” which you see behind me has not been adopted as our slogan by chance. Because, like the horizon, our programme has duration, it has targets, it has milestones, but chiefly it is reliable and clear. For this reason it signals the only sure prospect in an uncertain world.

However, it also constitutes the only solution to inter-party conflict, with parties and mini-parties which are incapable of mounting convincing opposition to governments of action. Parties which only rehash stale slogans and persist in an uncontrolled competition of bogus pre-election promises, each essentially copying the other.

Around this dual state of affairs will arise the dilemmas of the next election, where it will be decided which political force can guarantee that our country will continue its upward course, serving national requirements with justice, and reinforcing security in the middle of international upheavals. It is here that there will be a final judgement as to whether there are conditions of stability and normalcy in the country, in this journey which is proceeding under unprecedented circumstances.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am referring to dilemmas which are becoming ever more complex, as international geopolitical relationships are changing, bringing a chain of disturbances in the economy and in energy. While at the same time, in our own neighbourhood, our own methodical actions are generating spasmodic reactions, which we are nevertheless obliged to manage, with self-confidence and cool-headedness, with the state on maximum alert while maintaining social cohesion. These are important factors both for the immigrant question and for defence against the climate crisis.

As regards the opposition, my only concern is their irresponsible and uncosted proposals. They remind me indeed of the words of a song which was written for different reasons but I think that it fits the populists like a glove. Especially to someone whom Greece and Thessaloniki came to know well through his programmes and the Metro—both of which turned out to be nothing more than window-dressing. The lyric of a lovely song by Dimitris Mitropanis and Aleka Kanellidou says it all: “You tell a good story, but hey, I know you”.

Keeping pace with change
So I will repeat, the only opponent is the problems, and for that reason the next step is for the positive results of the economy to reach each household, as a share of progress and communal repayment. To each Greek man and woman, in every corner of our homeland. So that every young person may finally want to see their future here, with growth being justified only when it becomes personal success. And when the country’s progress simultaneously means personal, familial prosperity.

I am speaking of a vision which can become concrete reality, since governmental experience permits us to be better prepared in the face of what is to come. To more quickly identify errors, so that we can correct them, so that knowledge is converted into a lever of everyday change, for a country which stands firm in the world, with even greater care for its citizens and fully ready for the next decade of the 21st century.

The horizon, indeed, is not far away. Technology is advancing at unimaginable speed, artificial intelligence is changing everything in the workplace, in education, in health, in the working of businesses, in the State itself. Our homeland must be present from the outset at these historical changes, with the nation able to exploit the tremendous possibilities of artificial intelligence, but at the same time to offer security and rules against its reckless use.

I am very proud that our country has taken the lead in this European initiative to prohibit access to social media platforms for our young people up to the age of 15, especially to those which use the most addictive algorithms. And something similar will happen shortly for the new tools of artificial intelligence.

At the same time the global geopolitical map is changing. Our country needs to proceed “with reason and with a dream” as our national poet said ⁽¹⁴⁾. With clear aims but with a realistic approach. Those which up to today have made us allies of the most powerful, capable of extending our territorial waters in the Ionian, of drawing up Exclusive Economic Zones with our neighbouring states, but of combining, for the first time in the field, our energy policy with the assertion of our national rights.

(14) The phrase “me logismo kai me oneiro” – “with reason and with a dream”, is from the poem “I Eleftheri Poliorkimeni” – “the free besieged”, by Dionysios Solomos.

A challenge, finally, for the coming decades, the climate crisis. It is already here. In addition to strong civil protection, we must adapt to the new circumstances in the totality of our policies: from mild forms of energy to urban planning, to bioclimatic buildings, to the management of water resources. From smart agriculture to specialised tourism, the territorial cohesion of the state, the promotion not only of island living but of mountain life as an important comparative advantage.

Consequently, ladies and gentlemen, I will not hide it – tomorrow remains uncharted. Have no doubt that the clouds are gathering and the waters of international relations are becoming stormy. The hour will soon come, then, when it will be judged whether Greece has been found on the side of those who weathered the storms, or will be carried away along with those who did not timely resist the maelstrom of events.

Seriousness in planning, experience, government effectiveness, thus become necessary elements of the days to come, which is why I believe that the country needs a steady hand on the tiller.

It will need a strong government, which will keep it far from ungovernability or party-political haggling, which would trap it in idleness and enervation, with the time passing in endless negotiations, fence-sitting, compromises, and with every decision which needs immediate action being cancelled. I am speaking, therefore, of clear solutions, clear horizons.

And to those who justifiably ask “Why a third term?”, there is an easy answer. The easy answer would be “so that the country does not turn back three decades, and because the repositioning which started in 2019 must continue, so that society can taste the fruits of a decade of progress.” For me that answer is not enough.

My own version is much more ambitious. I do not dream of more of the same, I dream of a country in continuous motion, which will become better, while along with it we will all become better too. I am proposing a new national unity, based on a great social alliance, founded on the patriotism of responsibility, on the modernisation of creation and care of the community.

And there I believe that we will re-encounter many people. Among them perhaps some whom we may have disappointed. To those I will not hesitate – and none of us should hesitate – to admit our errors and to hold out our hand. But we must remind them that this party, Nea Dimokratia, was and remains the only responsible national and social pillar.

On the same route there will also be citizens who perhaps see election Sunday as an opportunity to send, supposedly, some message of protest. They should know, however, that such a stance can lead on Monday to there being no one to receive that message, that there is only one contest and that alone will decide between hope and misadventure. One which will answer the big and not the small questions. And chiefly with no room for mistakes, mistakes for themselves, for their children, for their country.

In other words, in the whole of this new beginning there is room for all: men, women, in the centre, in the regions, workers, the self-employed, families, businesses and pensioners, but chiefly our young people, because it is chiefly they whom a secure future concerns. They are the many who see their faces in all that I have just announced for today and the prospect which I have described for tomorrow. A prospect which for me constitutes a duty but also a source of optimism.

I know personally, and many in this auditorium know, how many times difficult circumstances ultimately turned into victorious opportunities. This will also happen now in the face of the great challenge of the Greek presidency of the European Council in the second half of 2027.

What does this major juncture and this great opportunity call for? It requires from the country not only stability, it requires an international outlook, it requires authority, it requires the capacity to promote our own national priorities at the centre of European decision-making, through equal dialogue and persuasiveness with the leaders of the other member states.

The same will apply, however, as we head towards 2030. The year when we will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the official founding of the new Greek state. We will celebrate it in February of 2030. It is a historic moment which must find us rallied together, proud and optimistic, free from dangers and threats without and within our frontiers. Reducing the errors, increasing the successes, so that the country can move forward with security, with self confidence, with horizons open to progress.

I will end, ladies and gentlemen, with a personal confession. Almost eight years ago I signed a contract of truth with you to move things forward. Today, despite the difficult obstacles, I believe that I have kept it by putting the commitments I made into practice. On a path not without errors, but with the results of the effort being overwhelmingly greater, so that they can be transformed into useful incentives for improvement. With the actions of the State justifying the slogan “We said it, we did it”. A stamp in the passport of credibility and a guarantee that we will also be able to achieve the things we will mention for the coming four years, if the citizens trust us to put them into practice.

This journey may have given me quite a few more grey hairs, but it has undoubtedly enriched my experience. I has made me more experienced, demonstrating that the voice of the nation can indeed be heard more strongly among the world’s leaders.

Internally, again, it has made me more determined upon bold, major reforms, while it has confirmed my belief in the unfailing capacities of our people. Chiefly, however, the intervening period has fuelled me with new strength for the great new step which our country, which Greek men and women are entitled to.

I therefore stand before you today having only one ambition: to serve this leap forward to the fourth decade of the 21st century. With a new agreement, which I will call an “agreement of progress and prosperity”. Bringing to this: experience, a plan, continual effort, unceasing appetite for hard work, but chiefly the certainty that the best is to come, as our country will become ever stronger.

Because those who will become stronger by the day are firstly the citizens. This is the new national challenge. Together, as always, we will win.

Thank you very much.