ATHENS – “Right now, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is in Berlin to participate in the Berlin Process Summit for the Western Balkans. Greece, as a force for stability, peace and security in the region and the first country in the Balkan region to join the European Community, firmly supports the European perspective of the Western Balkans,” government spokesperson Yiannis Oikonomou said during a press briefing on Thursday.

“It also supports the diversification of energy sources and energy security both with the infrastructure we are developing and with the more general initiatives we have been undertaking lately. Initiatives which have multiple benefits for the entire region. And the role of our country is recognised by all international actors, as Greece actively contributes to finding solutions and to the consolidation of stability based on law and legitimacy,” he added.

He underlined that the problem of high prices is a global problem and it is so big that no country can eliminate it by itself. Also, that the goal is on the one hand to have a range of products, absolutely necessary for every household, which will enable cheaper options for the consumer and on the other hand to encourage competition between supermarket chains.

“It is noted that yesterday, on the first day of implementation of the measure, the political leadership of the Ministry of Development visited supermarkets to monitor the issues raised. It was found that the chains had indeed offered significantly lower prices on several items and it was made clear that the ministry would proceed where necessary with the necessary corrective actions,” he said.

He concluded by pointing out that Greece is ready to welcome in a few days representatives from 30 leading American universities with the aim of expanding and deepening their collaborations with the Greek state universities. Oikonomou noted that among the universities whose representatives will visit Greece are Columbia, Harvard, Yale, John Hopkins, and he emphasised that the government has set the internationalisation of the country’s universities as one of the top priorities in the field of education.