ATHENS – Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reiterated his belief that a coalition government, such as with PASOK, would be “an unstable government that would not serve Greece’s interests,” in an interview to ANT1 TV on Tuesday.

“What I am interested in is a clean victory,” he added, referring to the May 21 national elections.

Commenting on the wiretapping issue, the Greek premier said the country needs “a strong intelligence service that will include guarantees of transparency.” He also expressed the belief that “the National Intelligence Service (EYP) should primarily focus on foreign security issues” and underlined that “the Service must be under the supervision of the prime minister and the prime minister’s office.”

Commenting on SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance leader Alexis Tsipras’ enmity, Mitsotakis said, “For seven years now Mr. Tsipras has targeted personally me and my family. […] Whoever wants to speak of the future does not spend valuable time speaking against his opponent. We never put out a negative ad. I prefer to speak of my program for the next four years.”

Mitsotakis also stressed that Greece would achieve investment-grade rating 100 days after winning the elections on May 21 for a second term.

Reuters interview

In an interview to Reuters’ Renee Maltezou on Crete, Mitsotakis expressed the hope that his next term would bring “years of rapid growth for Greece, but growth that will also limit inequalities.”

“I really want to put Greece on a different trajectory,” he underlined.

Commenting on relations with Türkiye, he said, “I’ve always said there is no reason why our relationship should be confrontational,” but criticized Türkiye’s Blue Homeland doctrine which infringed upon Greek sovereign rights. While he would defend those rights, he would also “extend the hand of friendship to Turkey,” Mitsotakis said.

Commenting on the future, the PM said Greece in 2023 was in a much better place than it was in 2019, and said his plans were “to build upon that.”