Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis received an award for the government’s reforms and the recovery of the Greek economy. He was an honorary guest at the 2025 Economic Conference of Wirtschaftsrat Deutschland in Berlin.
The Prime Minister’s speech follows:
Excellencies, distinguished guests, dear friends, what a tremendous honour. And thank you for a truly great speech. And I must tell you that I accept this honour from the Economic Council of Germany with deep gratitude, but also with deep humility.
The fact that this honour is presented by a preeminent German institution, I think it’s both symbolic and for some, unexpected. But this is indeed the reflection not only of the recognition of the progress that Greece has made, but also of the transformation of the way that our two countries understand each other.
This recognition is not mine alone. It belongs primarily to the Greek people. As you pointed out, they endured profound hardship and sacrifices, but at the same time, they were bold enough to embrace change. Essentially, they proved to be tremendously resilient, never giving up the promise of a better future.
There was a time, as you pointed out, when Greece was seen, often in the city that we’re gathered here today, as “Europe’s problem child”. Our ability to reform was doubted, our intentions were questioned, and even our position within the European family was challenged.
But today, this country that in Germany was faced with the greatest skepticism, is being recognised for its determination, its discipline, its resilience, and its ability to implement difficult reforms. This country, exactly 10 years ago, it was exactly 10 years ago, in July 2015, when we had a referendum where we essentially asked the question whether we should leave or stay in the Eurozone. We found ourselves on the precipice of crashing out of the Eurozone.
Yes, I know, and thank you for your honesty, that there were many who thought at the time that this was the most appropriate solution, both for Greece and the Eurozone. Indeed, I don’t think many at that time would have placed a bet that 10 years later, Greece would be hailed as a model for its ability to combine fiscal discipline with pro-growth policies.
Indeed, I think this has been the secret of our economic success. Our economy has been growing much faster than the Eurozone average. But this growth is primarily driven by investment, foreign but also domestic, no longer by consumption, which was funded by an unsustainable debt. Confidence is returning. I placed a bet at the beginning of my second term that we would return to investment grade status, and this has happened.
Our fiscal house has been put in order. For 2024, our primary surplus was expected to be close to 2%. It ended up being 4.8%. As you pointed out, our debt as a percentage of GDP, which is the most important indicator for the rating agencies and for all the economists looking at the macro condition of the Greek economy, has been coming down at the fastest pace of any OECD country.
But the important thing is that this growth is reflected primarily in more jobs. We have created, over the past six years, 500,000 new jobs in Greece, and I consider this to be probably the most important achievement of our economic policies.
There was an event a few weeks ago in Berlin, organised by our Greek employment agency. It was an interesting event because for the first time, we spoke to Greeks who had left the country during the crisis. We brought employers from Greece looking to recruit, and there was a tremendous interest by those young Greeks, who were forced to leave the country -they did not do it by choice, they did it by necessity-, to return to Greece, because they could find good jobs and because they believed fundamentally in the potential of the country.
This is giving us great encouragement to continue with the difficult reforms. This all, of course, did not happen by accident. Yes, it does help to have an absolute majority in parliament. I can’t hide that. But to be honest, we did get three times to 40% in three consecutive elections. I think we deserve this right to govern the country on our own.
From the very beginning, we implemented bold reforms. Reforms, I can tell you, are difficult. They’re hard. They create political reactions. Some of these reforms are, I think, particularly relevant. I’ll come back to this topic very briefly.
Digitising the state, citizens and businesses, to be served with dignity, efficiency, and transparency. Reforms means breaking down barriers for entrepreneurs. It means giving, as you said, people the freedom to operate within a well-regulated environment with predictability, reducing taxes in a way that is fiscally sustainable, training people for the economy of tomorrow. So, reducing taxes, but also tackling tax evasion to bring in more revenue. At the end of the day, reform is about making the state a partner, not an obstacle to prosperity.
Let me talk a little bit about digitization. I know that this is very high on the Chancellor’s agenda, and I think he’s absolutely right to do what he has done, to set up a separate Ministry for Digital Transformation.
This is what we did in 2019. We now have more than 1 billion digital transactions between citizens, businesses, and the state. So digitization is about efficiency. Who wants to stand in line or be buried under piles of paper. It is also about tackling fraud. It’s also about improving productivity. It’s also about the future of tremendous opportunities that AI presents when it comes to boosting productivity and improving the delivery of critical public services.
An example, we’ve rolled out our “My Health” application, which is essentially a digital personal registry for every Greek citizen paired with our digital prescription system. This has allowed us to tackle overprescription by doctors. This is a good example of how digital transformation, actually an important reform, helps you address an endemic problem of Greek society. At the same time, we use the data that we collect to drive AI-driven solutions that will improve public health of the general population.
I can tell you, none of these reforms were easy, but we did pursue them with determination. The big difference, dear Friedrich, was that we made them our national priority. In the past, during the difficult years of the programmes, “the troika”, as we called the institutions then, came with a reform plan, and we felt that we had to implement these reforms, they were imposed upon us.
The big difference is that I ran and we ran with a bold reform programme that got the support of the Greek people. But these reforms were designed by us, and they were being implemented by us. We knew that we had to run fast to make up for the lost decade of the crisis. We won three elections, one in 2019 and two consecutive elections in 2023, by proving to a sceptical public opinion that bold change can deliver more jobs, it can deliver higher wages, it can deliver more efficient public services and a better future.
Let me come back to tax evasion. When tax evasion is tackled by using digital tools, as we have done, the end result is that government revenues surge because we’re bringing more money by those who manage to avoid paying taxes. These are difficult reforms because we force every single owner or small business in Greece to connect their cash registry with a point of sale terminal so we can monitor real-time all the transactions that are taking place in Greece. We were faced with reaction initially: “What is it that you’re doing?” “This is not the way to do business”. But now that we bring in additional revenue and we can return this prosperity dividend to people, they realise that these reforms actually work.
If I have one piece of, I wouldn’t say advice, but one suggestion is make sure you implement the difficult reforms early on. It will only become more difficult. I’m going to be very interested in hearing the Chancellor’s speech regarding his first 100 days.
Jean-Claude Junker, who was instrumental in saving Greece during the difficult years, he once said that “we all know what to do when it comes to reforms. We just don’t know how to win elections after we do what we have to do”. With all due respect, in the case of Greece, and I’m sure in the case of Germany, he was wrong. You can actually win elections.
But of course, these difficult decisions that we had to take also were born out of our failed experiment with populism. In that sense, we were ahead of the curve. We were the first country in 2015 to elect a radical leftist government that ended up teaming up with the extreme right. It was very clear to the Greek people that populists and demagogues -and you have your fair share of them also in Germany, if I may say-, they offer magical solutions, but at the end of the day, magical solutions don’t improve people’s lives. They only leave you flirting dangerously with catastrophe, which is what happened in my country. Let’s not forget this. Let’s not forget this lesson. We must not be complacent because the ghosts of populism are present everywhere in Europe, and the risks are real.
But I’m also here to convey this message of hope. In our case, the centre, the centre-right, held, and it is important that it holds throughout Europe. And I do believe that in well-functioning democracies, you need stable, reasonable governments that try to govern from the centre. Thank you for making the reference to Ludwig Erhard as a model of pragmatism. At the end of the day, this is about finding real solutions, not being stuck in our ideological trenches, and offering real solutions to people’s problems.
Let me, again, from the bottom of my heart, congratulate your new Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, on a platform of bold reform, designed to unleash the capabilities of the German economy. And even as he was becoming Chancellor, he acted as a leader who is not afraid to break with the past in order to secure a better future. I think you’re reminding us, Friedrich, that leadership is not about clinging to ideology. It’s mainly about having the courage to act when the moment demands it. I really look forward to working together, not just strengthening the Greek-German relationship, but also in finding solutions to our joint European problems. There are quite a few of those.
This relationship, the Greek-German relationship, has been tested in the past. Misunderstandings, mistrust, difficult political choices, left our mark on both our societies. But this little beautiful gold medal is maybe the best symbol that these days are behind us. We’re here not so much to dwell on the past, but we’re here to celebrate what we have achieved, how we’ve come together and we’re here primarily to talk about the future. And this future is important in the sense that the important decisions that we need to take will be European decisions.
We enjoy a relationship of mutual respect and cooperation. We’re partners in addressing the big challenges ahead: defence, security, migration, energy, how are we going to bring down the price of energy, competitiveness, how are we going to make our companies more competitive. The lessons of the past have deepened our understanding, and have strengthened our cooperation.
In that sense, this journey that we took over the past decade is not just a Greek journey, it’s also a European story. It’s a proof that reform and solidarity, because we did receive solidarity by Europe in very difficult years, can restore hope and can deliver results. It’s a story, I think, worth sharing with other partners, especially at a time when the world around us is shifting. Shifting economically, geopolitically, technologically.
And this urgent need to strengthen European competitiveness in the face of economic and geopolitical disruption, migration pressures, energy volatility, the climate emergency, this is a challenge which I would put probably as a number one priority that we would have when we’re going to discuss at the next European Council how we’re going to strengthen and support our companies in this changing competitive environment.
And this is the time to really drive through reforms we have spoken a lot about at the European Council, but have not acted with a necessary sense of urgency. Capital Markets Union, what we call now, we rebranded it, we call it Savings and Investments Union, it’s probably a good choice because we’ve been talking about Capital Markets Union for 10 years and it never happened, so we needed a new name. But still, it is an important priority to allow our savings to be channeled to European companies, to your companies that are growing and are looking for equity and financing.
How are we going to make the single market properly work? How are we going to negotiate more trade deals with the rest of the world? How are we going to bring down the price of energy for all our European companies? Probably our number one priority in terms of competitiveness. And what is the role that countries such as Greece, which is producing more than 50% of its electricity from renewables now -a lot of German companies have invested successfully in Greece- what is the role that we can play in terms of designing an energy market that will work for all?
Greece is ready to play its part, but we’re looking towards Germany to lead. And I think it is important -let me stress how important it is- that you have a stable government with a new leadership, with clear views about the role that Europe can play in addressing all these important challenges.
Let me conclude, because we’re all very eager to listen to what the Chancellor has to say by telling you that today was a particularly moving evening for me because it allowed me to reflect on what was indeed a difficult journey, a journey that for many was unthinkable. But I guess we beat the odds and we defied the scepticism. We’re very happy today to be able to share this story and to invite German businesses to look at Greece as an investment destination.
I accept this medal on behalf of the Greek people. I thank you for this recognition, and I congratulate you, Friedrich, and look forward to working with you and your new government. Thank you all for your trust and faith in Greece’s journey. Thank you very much.
