Mitsotakis – The brain drain turn to brain gain

The possibility that Greeks living and working abroad now have to vote in their place of residence, was mentioned by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in a meeting he had with expat youth in London.

“Greeks who live abroad, mainly those of your generation, I dare not say of our generation, because you are all much younger than me, that is, children who mainly left Greece in the last decade, you now have the opportunity to vote in national elections from your place of residence in this case from London, from the United Kingdom,” said the Prime Minister.

“It was a pre-election commitment of mine. We have succeeded and we have implemented it in part, we would like the definition of those who have the right to vote from their permanent place of residence to be wider. We stumbled, unfortunately, as you probably know, on the limit of 200 seats we had to gather and unfortunately we could not persuade other parties to expand the definition. However, the generation of brain-drain is definitely covered and you can vote, unless there are many special reasons, from your permanent place of residence “, added Mr. Mitsotakis. At the same time, as he clarified, “the elections will take place in ’23, I am committed to this and I intend to keep my word and my public commitment.”

From brain drain to brain gain

The issue of brain drain was also raised in the discussion, which is now turning into brain gain: “the generation that left in the last decade is starting and is thinking very seriously about returning to the country. This is extremely encouraging. I also share my own experience when in ’97 I decided to return. I returned to Greece because on the one hand I had found a good job and on the other because I believed then in the long-term prospects of the country. I think the same is true to a large extent today. And I am especially happy every time I talk to big employers, Greek and foreign, when I ask them about the people who they are interested in hiring, they all tell me the same thing, that they receive many CVs from young Greeks abroad who now want to return home. “I believe that this proves in the best way that the Greece of 2021 has nothing to do with the Greece of the previous decade”, the prime minister noted.

Government priorities

Mr. Mitsotakis also referred to the government’s planning for the rest of the government term, emphasizing the reforms: “We have done a lot of work. We still have a lot of work ahead of us, 18 months until the elections is a significant period, so that we can implement reforms and not think, do not allow ourselves to think with the usual pre-election logic of benefits. I think we have left these behind for good. And the emphasis will be first and foremost on those changes that will make us more competitive. They will create jobs, reduce social inequalities and allow us to quickly make the double transition to the digital economy and the new green reality.

“In both of these areas we want to play a leading role and I think it is very important when a party like the New Democracy, a traditional, center-right, liberal party, plays a leading role in both of these areas. In the digital transformation on the one hand I think we have done things that many of our fellow citizens did not imagine could be done in such a short time. We all enjoy the “convenience” of the services provided by gov.gr and they are constantly expanding. In the green transition, we are again at the forefront, with bold policies, at all levels, that allow us to play a leading role and form a network of policies that run horizontally through all areas of government work. “