St. Petsas: New arrangement for the undeclared squares

Deputy Interior Minister Stelios Petsas spoke on ANT1’s show “Morning Press” about the Turkish provocations, on the occasion of the harassment through the broadcast of a recorded message to the helicopter that transported the Deputy Minister of National Defense Nikos Hardalia.

As Mr. Petsas said, we respond to any external threat in two ways, by strengthening deterrence and unity, while he spoke about the threatening mood of Turkey.

According to the Deputy Minister of Interior, Greece wants to advance the cooperation with Turkey through dialogue, however, as he said, the agenda is specific and is not determined by Turkey. At the same time, he noted that he considers wrong the attitude of those who kept their distance from the Greek-French agreement.

Referring to the possibility of early recourse to the ballot box, Mr. Petsas said that the elections will be held at the end of 4 years, as Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in his interview yesterday.

Regarding the course of the pandemic in the country and whether the carnival events will take place, Mr. Petsas stressed that decisions will be made based on the suggestions of experts. We must be careful, he stressed and added that he sees no reason to risk the de-escalation that exists at the moment. “Better to be careful than to have a setback,” he said characteristically.

Regarding the energy crisis and the accuracy that it has brought, Mr. Petsas noted that the government is by the side of those affected and that targeted measures have been taken since September. As the government said, it reduces taxes and increases the minimum wage.

On the issue of undeclared squares, the Deputy Minister of Finance said that there will be a new regulation, but with higher fines for those who were late to declare them, so that consistent citizens are not wronged.