Cabinet meets – New intervention by Mitsotakis on developments in Ukraine

Of Dimitris Gatsiou

After the almost five-hour debate in the Plenary Session of the Parliament on the dramatic developments on the Ukrainian front, the spotlights are turned inside, this morning, to the postponed meeting of the Council of Ministers.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis…’s teleconference meeting with members of the government, in the wake of the Russian invasion, which is changing the geopolitical situation on the European continent, will have as its main topic of discussion what is happening in Ukraine and the consequences for Greece.

In this context, the messages that the Prime Minister will send again are expected with particular interest, focusing on the constantly inflated waves of accuracy and price increases, which they set in… vise of household and business budgets.

The government position in the direction of supporting the citizens, especially the most vulnerable groups of the society, came again in the front line by Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

“We will not hide the problem. But we have the ability, both nationally and at European level, to manage it. At the national level, the government is already moving in an organized way in terms of the cost of supporting households.

Since last September, the government has provided more than two billion euros in support to households and businesses. These are subsidies, which restrained the huge price increases, if we consider that in January Greece was among the seven cheapest countries in retail electricity prices, 30% lower than the European average.

Which means, yes, of course, household income has been burdened, but at the same time it has been protected. “And this policy will continue, especially towards the most vulnerable, until this energy crisis is over,” said Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

In Athens, it is estimated that the European family, with the acquis of the Recovery Fund to deal with the effects of the pandemic virus, will act directly in the direction of taking specific decisions, which will “shield” the economies of the Member States, in order to support European consumers and businesses.

Following the 27 signal of the “27” leaders, through the text of the conclusions, the European Commission is working on a framework of interventions, which could have… as a first stage of discussion the extraordinary Summit in Paris next week.

“A pan-European problem requires a pan-European solution. The key in the medium to long term is policies, such as joint procurement, joint storage, joint financing of energy policy in Europe.

And I think it is very important that, following a Greek initiative, the European Commission will develop a specific plan to support businesses and households through a common fund based on the experience of the pandemic, so that we can continue to support households and businesses without we burden national budgets asymmetrically.

“Europe’s obligation at this time is to concentrate its firepower and support the Member States so that citizens and businesses do not suffer the extremely painful consequences of a possible further increase in gas and electricity prices.” noted Kyriakos Mitsotakis in his speeches from Parliament.

There is special care, at the same time for the conservation of the country’s energy reserves, with the prime minister referring to the Greek strategy and during the cabinet meeting. In this context:

– Revythousa was supplied with a new cargo of liquefied gas.

– The gas companies have already moved to ensure sufficient quantities of LNG.

– In the worst case scenario where the supply of natural gas from Russia is completely interrupted, the TAP pipeline in northern Greece is able to accept more loads.

– Hydroelectric and lignite plants are in complete reserve, as well as gas units in the territory that can at any time convert their fuel from natural gas to oil.

“In the long run, the only answer to the energy security of both the country and Europe is the rapid decoupling from Russian gas, but also from hydrocarbons in general.

Both for the protection of the environment and the confrontation of climate change but -now it is now obvious- and for geopolitical reasons now.

“The aim of the government is to become an energy autonomous and competitive country, utilizing first and foremost the rich wind and solar potential of our country, but at the same time to become an interconnection point for energy and green energy transport throughout the southeastern Mediterranean,” he said. Prime Minister, announcing the intention to build a second liquefied natural gas receiving station in Alexandroupolis.