G. Economou: Our national policies create an environment of energy stability

“Our country has been preparing for a long time and is taking every possible measure to deal with even the most extreme scenario.” This is what the government representative said during the press briefing, focusing on the energy crisis front and in anticipation of the afternoon meeting at the Maximos Palace.

As the government representative pointed out, on the horizon there is:

– The readiness to transport liquefied natural gas (LNG) with two ships at the same time to the Revythoussa facilities.

– The supply of more LNG by reverse flow through the TAP pipeline from Italy, with which processes are already in place to store a large amount.

– The use of more diesel and lignite for electricity production. The five gas-fired power plants are ready to run on diesel. At the same time, the available lignite units of D.E.H. continue to operate with their current production capacity and do not show any shortages, while in September the operation of the new lignite unit, Ptolemaida 5, will also begin.

“Our national policies are such as to create an environment of energy stability. The community possibilities that we seek from the first moment will come to be added to the national ones. But we all need to change our energy culture, contributing in practice to the reduction of energy waste”, he said.

Extensive references to the recent European Commission report on the state of the rule of law in the Union were contained in the position of the government representative.

As Mr. Economou noted, the report is considered positive for our country. “In Greece only five proposals are being made, while in many other countries more are being made. These proposals are intended to further strengthen points where we have already made significant progress in the past period. The European Commission’s Report recognizes the progress that has been made in the last three years in our country regarding the operation of the Institutions. In the field of Justice, the implementation of important reforms that have strengthened the quality, but also the efficiency of the Greek Justice is recognized. With regard to corruption, the progress that has already been made to deal with it is highlighted of corruption and the positive perspective created by the national anti-corruption plan 2022-25.In the area of ​​the press, the European Commission responds, in the most categorical way, to the slanderers of Greece, recognizing that freedom of expression and information are absolutely guaranteed in the Greek It also recognizes the progress made from our government to strengthen transparency in media ownership issues,” he said.

Mr. Economou noted that the government continues the effort for a more complete understanding on the part of the Commission of the actions to improve the working environment of the press officers.

“Greece has already submitted to the relevant EU institutions a detailed memorandum, which explains our plan for safeguarding the journalistic operation. Also, our government has fully explained the methodology for supporting the media during the pandemic. Support which continues with a horizontal character – i.e. for all media – with regard to the financing by the State of a number of critical areas of operation of media companies. Regarding the recommendations, the only one for our country, concerns the strengthening of the safety of journalists and this has been answered with the initiatives, with the Memorandum of cooperation that we have signed with co-competent ministries. It is important that although the report mentions other issues, as I said above, these do not result in recommendations for Greece, as in other countries,” he said. “Certainly there are issues that need improvements, reinforcements and corrections and we have been working in this direction for a long time. In the new policies being prepared in the EU – as there are no policies and there are problems as the Report for all countries highlights and much more recommendations – our country will be at the forefront of planning and interventions,” he added.

Mr. Oikonomou, on the other hand, noted that “in the country where the serial killer Koufontinas has a public platform, he writes articles in daily newspapers of nationwide circulation, presenting opinions that incidentally are also identified with the opinions of a political party, any discussion about freedom of the press is at least surreal” .