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G. Economou: The foreign policy of our country is a policy of consistency, stability and principles

Referring to the extraordinary meeting of the European Council which, as he said, “was dedicated to the Russian invasion of Ukraine but also to its consequences”, the government spokesman, Giannis Oikonomou, began the briefing of the political authors. “After lengthy discussions, the sixth package of sanctions against Russia was finally decided, which includes, among other things, the imposition of an embargo – with some exceptions – on Russian oil, which will result in the blocking of 90% of the quantity destined for Europe.

The European Commission has also been given a clear mandate to consider proposals to decoup the price of electricity from gas prices. ” which was suggested by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and is already finding much wider support within the EU.

He also referred to the European Commission’s debate on the repower eu to utilize unallocated resources of the Recovery Fund to finance the green energy transition.

“Greece will vigorously claim its share of these resources when the process of their distribution is finalized,” he stressed.

He went on to say that at the same time, the common concern of European leaders was that more than 20 million tonnes of grain were currently trapped in Ukraine due to the Russian blockade of the Black Sea. “Greece supports the initiative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in order to find a solution to this issue,” which has a humanitarian dimension, as he pointed out.

He also said that the Prime Minister had informed his counterparts about the escalation of Turkish aggression as it has manifested itself in recent weeks and asked – as long as Turkey persists in this irrational but also illegal, unhistorical and abducted practice of the international order – to discuss the issue again. at the regular Summit in June, in order to explicitly and clearly condemn Turkey in its conclusions.

“The last thing our sensitive region needs in times of international peace and stability is another source of tension, which is recognized by all sober voices around the world. That is why our country always responds to the challenges of its neighbors.” “With calm and national self-confidence, since we have international law on our side, we have our allies on our side, but also our strong and increasingly reinforced deterrent ability to defend our sovereignty and sovereign rights,” he stressed.

He also noted that the result of the intervention of the Prime Minister and our overall strategy lately was to have a series of statements of clear disapproval of Turkey, by allies and partners, and cited the statement of French President Emanuel Macron. He added: “Yesterday, Wednesday, just one day after the meeting between the Prime Minister and the German Chancellor, Olaf Solz, the representative of the German government clearly moved away from the line of equal distances. stressed that, given the current situation, it is necessary for all NATO allies to be united and refrain from provoking each other, adding that “Greek actions are not acceptable. They are counterproductive and against the spirit of the Alliance,” he said, adding that questioning the sovereignty of EU member states could not be accepted.

At this point, the government spokesman stressed that “our country’s foreign policy is a policy of consistency, stability and principles. It is a policy of respect for international law without ambivalence and gossip. our rights “.

He also stressed that Greece has become a factor of stability and peace in the wider region and in the statements of support of our allies this reality is also reflected.

The government spokesman then referred to electricity prices in May, noting that Greece, like the rest of Europe, is facing the consequences of a series of international crises. He stressed that the government has taken and continues to take decisive action.

He even explained that to make the picture more complete, he refers to the data of the monthly survey of the European Consumer Price Index (HEPI) for May – as shown by the pricing that took place in 33 cities in Europe.

These, as he said, show that Athens had a lower price of electricity in relation to the average of the sample but also of the EU, and this due to the subsidies in the prices of electricity that the government advanced.

More specifically, the price per kilowatt hour in our country was 0.2377 euros when the average of the 33 cities in which pricing was made was 0.2574 euros and the 27 EU countries at 0.2717 euros. In Athens, the price per kilowatt hour was 13% higher than in April, but remained in the low positions in terms of price levels and specifically was in 16th place in terms of pricing.

“The evidence is unequivocal and shows that our plan is already paying off,” he said.

He also referred to the increase of the minimum wage as well as the reduction of the amount of the supplementary insurance contributions from June 1 from 6.5% to 6% equally for employers and employees. This decrease follows the reduction by 3.9 percentage points of the social security contributions that were voted and applied in the previous two years (2020-2021).

He even stressed that according to Eurostat data, especially for low-wage workers, while in 2019 based on size the size of taxation Greece was in 14th place among EU member states, in 2021 it rose to 5th place and with current reduction is expected to further improve its ranking.

Mr. Economou closed his introductory statement with a few words about the n / s that is being voted today for the organization of the courts.

SOURCE: AMPE

Source: Capital

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