KYRIAKOS MITSOTAKIS

According to sources, the package of measures includes a reduction of the solidarity tax and social security contributions with a time frame of one year, in 2021, and their possible extension, depending on the course of the health crisis and the budget margins. The government's careful and conservative moves on tax breaks are also aimed at holding onto resources to deal with emergencies and unforeseen situations in the economy.

Mitsotakis also stressed that Greece is also mobilizing its diplomacy, notifying friendly nations and alerting allies and partners. "We are not alone in this effort. The immediate response of the European Union to our request to convene the Foreign Affairs Council confirms that this is not purely an issue of Greek-Turkish relations. It concerns the relations of all of Europe with Turkey," he said.

Accompanied by key ministers and speaking after a meeting with Ionian islands' regional officials, he added that Greece «will salvage what it can from this year's tourism season, with the safety of both visitors and residents a top priority», and added that preventive measures at Ionian islands will intensify as they are nearing the opening of tourism from Great Britain on July 15.

Development and Investment Minister Adonis Georgiadis reiterated what was outlined in the European Commission's sixth post-memorandum monitoring report on Greece, regarding the creation of a mechanism to help projects mature, under the supervision of the Prime Minister's Office.

"The next month will be very difficult" said Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in an interview with Proto Thema newspaper. "We will have an increase of the cases and of the serious cases, some people will lose their lives, we should know that " he underlined.

The five-year term of Greece' current President Prokopios Pavlopoulos, elected in February 2015, expires in 2020 and parliament must elect a new president by the end of 2019.

"A government is judged as a whole....where there were mistakes or wrong choices, these were fixed: at my personal orders, 13 hospital governors were subjected to second-level scrutiny and replaced. I don't accept, however, that this government makes 'allowances' regarding the ability of executives in the state machinery," he said.

"We have full confidence in our right and we move always with guideline the total respect to the international law because we know that the right is on our side. In parallel, we are sending a message of self-confidence and pride. A message of unwavering defence of our sovereign rights" said Mitsotakis from island of Kassos.

The party's ideological core has two ingredients, he said, individual freedom and social care. "Without individual freedom there is no collective prosperity," he noted.

Addressing a panel of new EPP deputies at the European Parliament, Mitsotakis said that the situation in Greece had reached its limits. "Right now, we are receiving 500 refugees and migrants on a daily basis.