Mitsotakis: Surging prices not the gov’t’s fault, but caused by Putin’s war

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in a wide-ranking interview to an Athens television station on Monday, and in the wake of a wire-tapping furor, dismissed charges of surging inflation caused by his government – or «Mitsotakis’ inflation», as the main opposition charges – instead referring to «Putin-induced inflation».

He also ruled out an across-the-board reduction in VAT rates, while reminding of pending hikes in social security monthly payments by 7 percent from the beginning of 2023.

The center-right premier also claimed that his government, alone in Europe, has so far been able to tax «surplus profits».

Asked about tenuous Greek-Turkish relations, Mitsotakis said he, personally, and the country’s envoys have absolutely, and in a clear-cut manner, expressed Athens’ positions to the Turkish side at international forums and in one-on-one meetings.

«…from then on, there’s also an internal dimension to the Turkish threat, one that has to do with elections in Turkey, the tragic state in which the Turkish economy is in, and the need by Mr. (Tayyip) Erdogan to change the agenda. There is also a Turkish revisionism, one which will be answered by our country, one that has already been answered, strictly and responsibly», he said.

Turning to the dire situation in Ukraine, he said Greece is doing exactly what other European countries are doing.

«The war in Ukraine affects us, because essentially, it’s a war between one party defending itself against a despotic empire, which wants to redraw borders through the force of arms», he said.