ATHENS – Government spokesperson Yiannis Oikonomou, commenting on Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ demand for the resignation of Spilios Livanos as agriculture minister, on Tuesday said it was because “his reaction to a wholly unacceptable statement by the Sparti mayor Mr. Doukas was not fitting for a minister in the Mitsotakis government.”

Talking to the radio station ‘Parapolitika 90.1″, he also said that the mayor’s statements regarding the money handed out as compensation after the devastating fires of 2007, in addition to being unacceptable, was also completely untrue and did not correspond to the facts.

“Everything was done in the proper way, through banks,” he added, while also disputing the mayor’s claims regarding the polling figures at that time.

“The things that [the mayor] said were offensive for the people that experienced the tragedy and for our government today, as well as for the government of 2007 and the underlying principles of our party,” Economou said, adding that the things described by the mayor “only happened in his imagination”.

Regarding rising prices, the spokesperson said the government will continue to support citizens to the extent that this was fiscally possible and noted that the support being given was permanent, while further measures for energy will soon be announced.

On the problem of hooliganism and sports-related violence, Oikonomou said that the legislative changes made by the government had made it possible for the Greek police to quickly solve the recent incident in which a 19-year-old was murdered, and to bring those responsible to justice.

“Unfortunately, they were unable to eradicate violence. We will continue to take measures and work with football clubs, as well as intensifying police control. It is a collective effort and a duty we all owe to the family of the youth that was lost and to the healthy supporters in order to eradicate incidents of hooliganism and youth violence,” he added.