ATHENS – We are more than ever ready to renew our ties with youth, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and New Democracy (ND) leader said at the party’s youth (ONNED) congress at the Peace and Friendship Stadium (SEF) on Friday.

The ONNED congress opened with a keynote speech by Mitsotakis and will conclude on Sunday, with addresses by party members and affiliated parties from abroad. Attendees are among the 2,393 representatives elected by the 82,757 members of the youth party.

Mitsotakis said that the government wanted Greece to become a pillar of stability and progress, and youth to claim a better life. He also called on ONNED’s young leadership to avoid “becoming copies of older (ND) officials,” and to interact with new citizens, conveying the party’s policy and messages.
Greece has met with several crises but did not veer off course, he noted, and the government has introduced changes to support youth including the raise of minimum wage. He also noted progress in hiring new teachers, promoting equal rights, especially with LGBTQI+ individuals, domestic violence, and educational initiatives in jails as also benefitting young people.

Plans to support youth will continue to be implemented, he said, as “rents are rising and a first job’s wages are not enough. Without a home, it is impossible for a new couple to start a family.” The government is working on a comprehensive plan that will be announced shortly and be implemented in New Democracy’s second term in power. “Greece does not have an option to turn back. Only a stable state is a strong state,” he said.