Roberta METSOLA, EP President, welcomes Kyriakos MITSOTAKIS, Greek Prime Minister, in the European Parliament in Strasbourg for the fifth "This is Europe" debate. Extracts from his arrival, meeting and from the debate.

EU - Greece (T)

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

WEBER, Manfred (EPP, DE)

METSOLA, Roberta (EPP, MT, EP President)

ANDROULAKIS, Nikos (S&D, EL)

MITSOTAKIS, Kyriakos (EL)

president's agenda

This is Europe Debate (T)

"This is Europe" debate with Kyriakos MITSOTAKIS, Greek Prime Minister: arrival, welcome and meeting with Roberta METSOLA, EP President, and extracts from the debate

Title: Roberta METSOLA, EP President, meets with Kyriakos MITSOTAKIS, Greek Prime Minister: arrival, welcome and roundtable, extracts from the debate on &quot;This is Europe&quot; 

Arrival of&nbsp;&nbsp;Kyriakos MITSOTAKIS, Greek Prime Minister, welcome by&nbsp;Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Strasbourg, France, 05/07/2022,  (5  shots)

Family photo with&nbsp;&nbsp;Kyriakos MITSOTAKIS, Greek Prime Minister and Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Strasbourg, France, 05/07/2022,  (1 shot)

Cutaway with Kyriakos MITSOTAKIS, Greek Prime Minister and Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Strasbourg, France , 05/07/2022,  (1 shot)

Protocol room, signature of the golden book with&nbsp;Kyriakos MITSOTAKIS,&nbsp;Greek Prime Minister, and Roberta METSOLA, EP President, Strasbourg, France, 05/07/2022,  (1 shot)

Meeting with&nbsp;Kyriakos MITSOTAKIS,&nbsp;Greek Prime Minister and Roberta METSOLA, EP President,, Strasbourg, France, 05/07/2022,  (2  shots)

SOUNDBITE (English), Roberta METSOLA, EP President, No society before the Greeks dared to believe that order and freedom were compatible. And with the return of war on our continent and power politics on the global stage, we are reminded of the importance of safeguarding democracy hand in hand with our rules based order to preserve freedom over autocracy.

SOUNDBITE (Greek), MITSOTAKIS, Greek Prime Minister, We are on the side of peace and an international rule of law against an invasion, and infringement and violation of borders. We are for democracy and in a democratic society, and therefore we refuse this autocratic, new despotism. We we always want to support that approach.

SOUNDBITE (Greek), MITSOTAKIS, Greek Prime Minister, The struggle in Ukraine is aturning point, I would say, in the history of Europe, the importance of which is becoming visible only if each state plays its role in line with its own requirements.

SOUNDBITE (Greek), MITSOTAKIS, Greek Prime Minister, We, Greece in 2022, cannot be compared to Greece of 2015. Seven years on, I am standing here before you to say to you that those images have been deleted forever. My country has a new government which is leading our country into a new age. Which wants to push development, reducing unemployment and increasing investment.

SOUNDBITE (Greek), MITSOTAKIS, Greek Prime Minister, And in a month from now, we will be shaking off the enhanced surveillance framework. So we are ready over the next year, within 2023. To to increase investment. So we look to the future in a more optimistic fashion, despite the major challenges out there.

SOUNDBITE (Greek), MITSOTAKIS, Greek Prime Minister, A united Europe means in energy terms united as well. We have to have the courage to intervene in the markets when they have basically stopped working. We have to break the link between the costs of natural gas and the cost of other energies. And I see that now things are moving within the Commission to look at the way in which we price electrical energy on our continent.

SOUNDBITE (Greek), MITSOTAKIS, Greek Prime Minister, We always strove to make crisis into opportunity. With the help of Europe. We better organised the protection of our eastern borders. Diplomacy? Well, we entered into agreements on the protection of sea areas with Italy and Egypt, Israel, as well as links there, and increasing defence, establishing serious conditions for mutual protection with France and also an agreement with the United States.

SOUNDBITE (English), Manfred WEBER (EPP, DE), There is no Europe without Greece. Greece is back on economic issues last year. Even in crisis times, Greek economy grew by more than 8%. When it comes to growth, greece is amongst Europe's top five countries. You managed to reduce the unemployment, in Greecein the quarter from summer 2019 to February 2022, more than any other country, you did it and the people feel the success in their daily life.

SOUNDBITE (English), Manfred WEBER (EPP, DE), Greece is back and that is about the security issues since you took over. Greece seriously cares about security again. Greece, due to its geographic position, is the key when it comes to the European security. Europe is not to be criticised but to thank Greece for protecting and defending our common external borders.

SOUNDBITE (Greek), Nikos ANDROULAKIS (S&D, EL), We have to have a progressive framework towards solidarity, protecting human rights and protecting the environment. We have to make our citizens feel safe again in the face of geopolitical climate and economic economic challenges of our times. We have to establish recovery and resilience as a constant characteristic, particularly for the Greek peoples who face such difficult situations. We need to strengthen the resistance of societies and economies.