Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis held a discussion with French author Pascal Bruckner at the American School of Classical Studies, in an event organized by iefimerida.gr at the Cotsen Hall Amphitheater on Thursday.
Speaking about the results of American elections, Mitsotakis said the two greatest issues was the economy - particularly the high cost of living - and migration. In terms of the woke agenda, he said that "we came across the same issues 35 years ago. One of my professors told me that if you have the right to speak, you also have the obligation to listen. I am afraid this has become lost in what we call woke culture in the USA. For me, this differs from traditional liberalism. We have the tyranny of the minorities, and if you deny this, they call you a fascist. This woke culture does not exist in Europe and Greece."
Citizens have high expectations of governments and when these are not met, populism enters and tempts them, he said, citing Greek examples and saying that "in Greece we have managed, we won elections because we kept our promises and built a relationship of trust."
He spoke of Europe that needs to spend more money, as it did during the coronavirus pandemic, and of member states needing to understand that "we should be united."
In terms of migration, Mitsotakis said that "we need a tall fence, but also a big door," for balance. "My duty is to protect Greek borders, which are the borders of Europe. To ensure that they will not enter Greece illegally, and I do not have to apologize to anyone," he underlined.
As for the Middle East war, the Greek premier described what is happening in Gaza "repulsive", and expressed concern "when I do not see an ultimate goal to a military intervention. We are all concerned and worried about a possible escalation of the war, which has already happened on some levels." The first priority is to end military operations in Gaza and South Lebanon, especially in Gaza, Mitsotakis underlined.
The discussion was moderated by University of Athens political analysis professor Lambrini Rori.