Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke on Wednesday evening at an event organized by “The Hellenic Initiative” at the Acropolis Museum, in the context of the “ATHINA26: Empowering Greece’s Next Generation” conference. The Prime Minister’s speech follows:
Well, dear George, dear Mike, ladies and gentlemen, distinguished members of “Τhe Hellenic Initiative”, dear friends,
Ιt is indeed a great pleasure to welcome you to to Athens and to this remarkable setting right beneath the enduring gaze of the Acropolis, a monument not only to the genius of ancient Greece but also to the continuity of Hellenism itself. And I’m fully aware of the fact that it is very difficult to compete with this outstanding, this totally unique view, so I will try to keep my remarks relatively brief.
But indeed, there could be no more fitting place to welcome all of those from all over the globe who have kept Greece close to their hearts wherever your life has taken you. And allow me on behalf not just of the Greek government, but also on behalf of the Greek people, dear George, ladies and gentlemen, to begin by expressing my deepest gratitude to “Τhe Hellenic Initiative”. You do deserve a round of applause for everything you’ve done for the country.
Since its inception, your organization has truly demonstrated the strength of the Greek diaspora, channeling your generosity into meaningful action and reinforcing the enduring bonds between the motherland and Greeks across the globe. And “Τhe Hellenic Initiative” is indeed part of something much, much larger. It is part of the extraordinary Greek diaspora. And wherever Greeks have settled -in North America, in Europe, in Australia, Africa, beyond, you know, we can find Greeks anywhere in the world- I think they have always carried this deep and abiding love for their homeland. And they have enriched the societies they joined while remaining deeply connected to the country and heritage that shaped them.
And Greece treasures this connection and draws strength from it. And our government has made enhancing our relationship with Greeks abroad a national priority, because we truly recognize that the future of Hellenism depends on these vibrant ties that span continents and generations.
I know many previous governments had expressed a similar intention, but I do believe that under our government we have made meaningful progress in restoring the bonds between the diaspora and the motherland.
And your achievements are indeed a source of pride for all of us. Your perspectives enrich our national conversation, and your continued engagement amplifies Greece’s voice in the world.
But engagement must also mean participation. And it is our government – and I am particularly proud of that – that first enabled the Greeks abroad to vote in their place of residence, and then have abolished all the remaining restrictions, ensuring that every Greek living abroad can exercise this fundamental democratic right.
We also introduced postal voting, making participation easier than before. And I can tell you, it was not an easy reform. It required a very difficult, a very complicated parliamentary battle and considerable effort to secure the necessary majority because actually, as my ministers know, it was actually a very, very close vote.
But we indeed persevered because we believed that no Greek should be denied a voice in our democracy simply because they happen to live abroad.
So, dear George, dear Mike, ladies and gentlemen, for those of you who do live abroad, I do urge you to exercise this right in the upcoming elections, which will take place in the spring of 2027. It sounds very repetitive, but I always get asked when the elections will take place. I answer, obviously, the elections will take place at the end of our term.
So make your voice heard and when the time comes to cast your ballot, remember, please remember who fought to remove every barrier to your participation.
And I do remember when I first met George and when “Τhe Hellenic Initiative” was actually born. It was born during a very, very difficult period, not just for Greece but also for Greeks, at a time our country was facing a profound, not just economic crisis, but a deep social crisis.
And at a time when your assistance was required, you actually responded with your solidarity. And you’ve demonstrated that the Greek diaspora stands with Greece not only in moments of celebration, but also in moments of adversity. And your confidence in our country never wavered. And for that, we remain deeply, deeply grateful.
And I think it is actually worth reflecting how far Greece has come since then, since you first made your first donations, your first contributions to the country. When “Τhe Hellenic Initiative” was first launched, we were still fighting to ensure our recovery, our stability, and restoring our confidence.
Today, I think we can say with justified pride that Greece stands at a very, very different place. It has become, as you pointed out, a pillar of stability, a pillar of resilience, renewal, and cooperation in a very, very complicated region, a region that continues to face significant challenges.
Our economy is growing. It is growing at a much faster pace than the eurozone average. Unemployment has declined. When we first came into power, unemployment was at 18% and youth unemployment was close to 40%. That’s 4-0.
Today, unemployment is at 8%. And for the first time, and this is a great source of pride for me, we have been able to reverse the catastrophic brain drain which occurred during the times of the crisis. Greeks are returning to Greece in large numbers. And the reasons why they do that is because they find opportunities for employment, they find good jobs.
And they also have confidence in the long-term trajectory of the country. Because, you know, it’s not an easy decision to actually take your family and move to a different country. I remember very well when I took this decision back in 1997. Our first daughter was just born and I decided to move from London to Greece at the time because I did believe at the time that Greece had a good, a promising future. And that is the main reason why young Greeks are again returning to Greece.
Our public finances have been restored. If you look at the reduction of our debt as a percentage of GDP, it has been truly impressive. This is the fastest reduction of debt to GDP of any country in the history of the OECD. We have truly restored macroeconomic stability.
And this is so important for a country which for many, many decades has been struggling with the burden of a heavy debt. So for the first time, I can say with confidence that macroeconomic stability is no longer an issue in Greece. And we have been rewarded by the markets.
I just ask you to make a comparison between Greece and the United Kingdom. I am saying this because the United Kingdom just had its 7th Prime Minister in a decade.
And this is a G7 country, but it is also under pressure from the markets because the markets are ruthless when it comes to issues of fiscal sustainability.
We have restored the trust of the markets in our economy. We are producing healthy primary surpluses. We’re reducing our debt and we’re channeling these funds to assist society, especially those who are in greater need.
If you look at foreign investment, it goes from records to record. The reason why this is happening is because foreign investors find a country that has significant growth potential in numerous sectors. If you look at our digital transformation, it has truly, truly reshaped the relationship between citizens, businesses, and the state, making government more efficient, more transparent, and more responsive.
I remember during the very, very difficult COVID years comparing notes with my American friends, and I remember they got these little cards, vaccination cards, and in our case everything was digital and everyone was very surprised. How did Greece actually do this? How did we actually leapfrog, you know, other countries in terms of our digital transformation? But it has actually happened.
So, Greece is flourishing again. I’m not saying there are no difficulties. There are many difficulties ahead of us. But there’s no doubt that the country is doing so much better than it did some years ago.
The most important thing, I believe, is that we have learned the lessons of the past. And because Greece has changed, I think new horizons for partnership have emerged.
And as we move forward, as we look into the future, I would encourage “The Hellenic Initiative” to continue to build upon its legacy by exploring new avenues of cooperation with Greece.
And together, I believe that we can invest in the greatest asset that this country has, and I’m referring to the Greek people. I had a chance to look through this brochure, and it is indeed remarkable that you have championed causes which are not necessarily very well known, grassroots organizations that actually do try to make a difference in everyday Greek lives.
And there are still, in spite of the progress that we have made, significant needs in our country. And I have always been a champion, dear George, of public-private partnerships. And I do believe that it is the duty, not just of the Greek diaspora, but also of wealthy Greeks to contribute back to their country.
If you just look around us, look around Athens, there are so many buildings that remind us of the heritage of the Greek “evergetes”, the great philanthropists who gave a significant amount of their fortune to support the country. And I do believe that when this partnership is properly structured, we all benefit.
And again, we are at a time of immense change, so we can expand pathways for employment, foster entrepreneurship, continue to connect talented young people with career opportunities that will inspire them to build a future in Greece.
And at a time of profound, colossal, unprecedented transformation, at a time when we have to grapple with climate change… Today is a pretty warm day. This is the first, actually, very warm day of the summer. We’re happy that we didn’t have any significant wildfires today, but I can tell you for a Prime Minister, the struggle to deal with wildfires during the summer is a constant, constant stress.
We have to deal with climate change and climate adaptation, with water management. We have to deal with profound geopolitical realignment that is taking place in our broader region, with wars that we could not predict even six months ago. But most importantly, we have to deal with AI, which is a transformative technology, whose power can be harnessed to offer better public services.
And we’re actually doing that as a government in a very systematic manner. But at the same time, the challenges of AI, when it comes to the labor market, when it comes to job displacement, are simply too big to ignore.
And for us, this is not just a national agenda. This is a European agenda. And I’m happy that the fact that Greece’s credibility has been restored in Europe allows us to play a much more active role in shaping not just Greek policy, but also European policy.
So as we look into the future and as we left behind us the very, very difficult years of the crisis, let’s focus first of all on supporting those Greeks who really try to make a difference in the lives of other Greeks.
And everywhere I go across the country -and I do travel a lot, tomorrow I will fly to Kalabaka, to Meteora, and I will have the privilege to be the first to drive on the last remaining highway in continental Greece that connects Thessaly with Western Macedonia; this is the last big infrastructure highway project that we need to complete in the mainland. But everywhere I go, I find extraordinary talented Greeks that do try to make a difference in the lives of other Greeks. And I would encourage you to continue to dig deep and find these people and support them.
There are still many unmet needs in Greece, and your contribution can actually make a real difference. As I was reading through this list, it’s not just about the money. It’s about the recognition. It’s about the dignity that we assign to people who actually try to make a difference.
This is not something we can do by ourselves, as a government. Societies have changed. Unless we mobilize the whole society and we have them on board in terms of the big changes we make, we will not succeed.
So look at the grassroots organizations in Greece, but also let’s focus on the future on connecting the amazing diaspora with Greece when it comes to talent, when it comes to bringing people back to Greece, when it comes to explaining even to foreign investors that this is a great place to invest. Not only because it has natural comparative advantages – of course you want to invest in Greek tourism when you have this natural beauty – but because our people are so well trained and so well educated, that they constitute at the end of the day the biggest asset of the country.
And let’s build those bridges, especially between the diaspora and the country, because we need your assistance. A couple of weeks ago, I visited our Naval Academy, and I had an opportunity to interact with a very prominent professor from MIT who actually came back and devoted his time to train our naval officers in very advanced swarm technology, when it comes to unmanned sea vehicles.
This is a sort of technological know-how that we need. It’s not just about the money. It’s not about the capital. It’s about the knowledge and the experience that you bring.
And my final point, I think, is the following: politics everywhere has become incredibly polarized. I think you see it in the US and in Europe – maybe in Australia things are slightly better.
And sometimes I think even as Greeks, we lose perspective. We don’t see the bigger picture. We just dig deep in our sort of party trenches and are only concerned about attacking our opponents.
And I do understand that politics is a tough game and I accept that. But at some point we need to really understand what’s good for the country.
The fact that the country today has the best Armed Forces it ever had, and I can actually vouch for that, and I can actually say that with great confidence, is something all Greeks should be proud of. The fact that, remember, Greece has been able to to deal with the problem of migration in an effective but also humane manner is something that eventually is good for Greeks and Greece, regardless of the party they vote for.
So I do believe that the Greek diaspora has an opportunity to look at the big picture, to stay above the petty party politics and contribute to what is best for the country.
Governments come and go. It’s the nature of democracies. But whether Greece will continue to stay on a growth path, whether it will be on the side of the winners when it comes to AI -because there will be winners and losers, I have no doubt about that-, whether we will continue to remain a pillar of geopolitical stability in a turbulent world, this is something that will inevitably affect all of us.
So I will encourage you to continue to contribute to the country. And let me just again use this opportunity to thank you. Thank you for your friendship. Thank you especially for your generosity, and above all, thank you for continuing to keep Greece not only in your memories but also in your hearts!
I wish you a beautiful evening. Thank you so much.
