Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Thursday rejected criticism from two former prime ministers from his conservative New Democracy party on the government’s foreign policy on neighboring Turkey, saying he wants relations with Ankara to be “as functional as possible.”

“Greece extended its territorial waters in June, staked its claim to sovereign rights south of Crete, drilled for the first time in 40 years,” he said in an interview with private Antenna television. “For the first time Greece has been setting the agenda and Turkey, to a certain extent, has been reacting.”

“I am the only Greek prime minister to have gone to Ankara and raised – politely but, I believe, without retreating from Greece’s positions – the issue of casus belli,” he added, referring to Turkey’s standing threat to declare war if Greece expands its territorial waters in the Aegean Sea.

He said criticism from former prime ministers Kostas Karamanlis and Antonis Samaras on his Turkey policy is “unfair.”

“And I proved that with a series of initiatives the Greek government has taken, which potentially could have been undertaken in the past and never were,” he added.

Asked about speculation Samaras might launch a new right-wing party ahead of next year’s planned Parliamentary elections, Mitsotakis said: “Samaras was a good prime minister who took the country forward. I can’t imagine that the man will do something that would harm the party that gave him the chance.”

On economic policy, Mitsotakis conceded that the post-pandemic overall increase in prices “is the biggest problem facing not only the Greek government but also all European governments.”

“I am fully aware that right now a large section of Greek society has trouble making ends meet … But we must be realists concerning what we can and what we cannot do,” Mitsotakis said, adding that the country was subject to fiscal constraints. “I will never … jeopardise fiscal stability.”

Mitsotakis also rejected the notion of reducing sales tax, which he said would be ineffective in lowering consumer prices.

This story has been updated.

Source: Ekathimerini.com