ATHENS – Government spokesperson Yiannis Oikonomou began the press briefing on Monday by noting that “it is an indisputable fact that we are going through an extremely difficult period… especially for those who are financially weak.”

He underlined that the problems caused by the unprecedented rise in the price of energy and consumer goods are, as everywhere in Europe, acute.

Oikonomou said that the government had foreseen the problem and taken measures since September 2021 which “while it cannot eliminate the problem, can alleviate it as much as the conditions allow it.

“We are moving together at a national and European level to address the price hikes,” he said, adding that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is developing documented and realistic proposals and collaborating on this goal with other country leaders that adopt similar positions in order to maximise the pressure and the necessary decisions to be taken.

Oikonomou also referred to the reception of Ukrainian refugees noting that “Greece always rises to the occasion and lives up to its history” and will continue to welcome refugees from Ukraine. A total of 12,665 Ukrainians had arrived in Greece by March 20, while 167 spent the night at the Sintiki facility and 51 at Serres facility on Monday.

Meanwhile, the dispatch of humanitarian aid and medicine to Ukraine is continuing and there is an agreement for the hosting of patients from Ukraine’s hospitals in Greece, as well as a discussion on accepting 30 children with cancer so they can continue treatment at the Childrens Hospital, in the Elpida cancer unit.

Concluding, Oikonomou expressed the government’s satisfaction with the successful completion of the rescue operation Nostos 6 for the evacuation from Mariupol of four Greek citizens and six ethnic Greeks, along with Consul General Manolis Androulakis.