Mitsotakis on Mega TV: Permanent VAT reductions are feasible at end of second four-year term

Our greatest enemy at the ballot box is complacency, New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in an interview on Mega TV on Thursday, and that sense that the electoral result is already set.

“Nothing should be taken for granted. The result of the first round [on May 21] provides us with a good indication of how the voters will lean in the June 25 elections. I will be happy if participation rises,” Mitsotakis said.

The ND leader clarified that there will be no new tax increase under his party’s second term, but further decreases instead. “My goal is to examine permanent reductions in VAT toward the end of the four-year term,” he underlined, turning down the main opposition’s price reduction proposals. “If the economy is effective, I believe it will be a feasible target in the second half of the four-year term,” Mitsotakis added.

Speaking about the recognition of the academic status of private universities, the discussion to change the Constitution’s Article 16 will open in 2025. “Universities can be private as well, on condition that the state keeps a strict control. I will insist on this very much. They will have high credentials. But my focus will be on public universities,” he said, adding that Greece is starting to become a center of training.

Mitsotakis addressed the criticism by the main opposition that ND will privatise water companies. He responded that EYDAP (the Athens Water & Sewage Company) and EYATh (its Thessaloniki counterpart) came under the control of Greece’s Superfund for privatization by SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras, who was then prime minister. “He is the last one who can accuse us, since he put them both in the Superfund,” Mitsotakis said.

Among other issues, Mitsotakis addressed fears of a rise in the extreme right, saying, “Greece is far from a time when the extreme right can provide an organized political expression,” while he also noted on inflation in food prices, “I believe we have seen the worst, but we have not resolved the issue.”

Meets Obama

At the start of his interview, the former PM also spoke of meeting with former US president Barack Obama, who is in Greece to participate in a conference at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s annual Nostos Conference. He said Obama had played a key role during the Greek crisis, pressuring Europeans not to abandon Greece.

The two, he said, held a constructive discussion on issues like artificial intelligence. “We must think smartly, to use it as a tool of progress, not one to undermine democracy,” he said of AI, revealing that he is preparing an advisory committee focusing on Greece’s position in the coming world, and drawing from Greek scientists who are very active in the sector.