Greek society – and the Greek-American community, among which he has lived for several years – expect a lot from main opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Because he is can and the country needs it.

Not by means of wishful thinking and demagoguery, but with hard work, with substance, with a program, with a proper choice of associates (he repeatedly has stated that he will choose as minsters not politicians when he forms a government).

This was evident in his speech at the Thessaloniki International Fair (you can read his entire speech on our website).

I will not dwell on the specific measures he presented.

The few deliberately chosen, specific measures, with transparent sources of revenue and cost reductions, and even the small in numbers but large in percentages – and significance – reduction of the fees charged for the state-run television station.

The reduction of cost doesn’t really matter much, although for many it may be a slight relief.

What matters is the mentality that it displays, the attention to detail that the country so badly needs.

And here, in my opinion, is where the significance of his speech lies. In the need for a change of attitude, the reconsideration or the return of society to the values that should live by, hard work, truth, meritocracy, citizens who enjoy rights but who also have responsibilities, the riddance – finally – of the failed theories of the past.

For me, this change is a prerequisite for changing the country’s horizons.

Without these, no matter how smart economic measures are taken, nothing will happen.

I am citing a selection of his speech so that you may judge for yourselves:

“Our economic collapse was preceded by the gradual decline of institutions. We encouraged effortless enrichment instead of healthy entrepreneurship … Only a social market economy can generate wealth for all, attract investment, and create new jobs … The battle that we must give does not only concern the technocratic aspect of public policies. It is simultaneously a deeply ideological battle that requires us to redefine the framework of the values on which we organize our economic and social life, as well as our general behavior …

Our plan makes it clear that being a Greek citizen entails rights and obligations … and this applies particularly to the productive classes, the business community, which should play a leading role in the national effort for dignity, confidence and success … Finally, our plan actively restores the need for society and the economy to revert to the creative life values that make democratic societies strong.

To meritocracy and transparency.

To hard work and creative ambition.

To confidence in the institutions, to solidarity and cohesion.

To the promotion and encouragement of excellence, the rewarding of entrepreneurial risk-taking and innovative business.”

These points,  go a long way for putting the foundations for Greece’s recovery.