Kyriakos Mitsotakis: In the last European Council of the year, we will come back to the issue of the cost of energy and I hope that after many months of deliberations we will be able today, or the latest next Monday, in the Council of Ministers, to finalize our decisions.
We are close to being able to impose a cap in the price of natural gas. Our arguments are now known in all member states and I believe that in one way or another we will be able to find the necessary majorities so that we can move towards this direction.
It is absolutely essential for Europe to finally send a clear signal to the markets that it will not allow the weaponization of natural gas by Russia. We need to support our consumers, our businesses, our households, in order to deal with this wave of high prices, which is a “product” of war and Russia’s unjust invasion of Ukraine.
In any case – and regardless of the European decisions – the Greek Government continues to take all measures in order to support Greek households and Greek businesses. I want to remind you that in December alone, 900 million euros will be disbursed from the state budget to support households with low incomes, as well as our fellow citizens who are entitled to an allowance for heating oil purchases.
And of course this, combined with a number of other initiatives – such as the “Household Basket”, which now also has a Christmas dimension – proves that the government is doing everything it can, trying to limit the effects of imported high prices. We will continue to move in this direction, leaving behind the inarticulate cries of the opposition and supporting, as far as possible, households and businesses.
Journalist: (inaudible)
Kyriakos Mitsotakis: Look, this is a topic we have been discussing at the European Council for months now. I was hoping that we would already have been able to achieve an agreement at the level of our Ministers. Unfortunately the issue is coming back to us, but I am optimistic that if not today the latest next Monday – when our Ministers will meet again – we will have a final decision. It is necessary to send a clear signal to the markets but also to Russia that we will not accept the weaponization of gas at the expense of our citizens and our businesses. Thank you.
