Opposition, unions and pensioners condemn Mitsotakis’s TIF measures

Mitsotakis outlined the government’s fiscal policy, public debt reduction plans and positions on a range of current political issues during a press conference at the Vellideio Conference Centre on Saturday, concluding his three-day presence in Thessaloniki for the 90th TIF.

The prime minister sought to present an image of economic stability, fiscal credibility and a stronger international position for Greece. At the same time, he acknowledged individual mistakes and delays, without extending that self-criticism to the government’s overall course.

PASOK: ‘Farmers have a red card ready for you, Mr Mitsotakis’

PASOK said the prime minister’s references to the agricultural sector at the TIF confirmed what it described as the government’s ‘indifference’ to the reality faced by farmers and livestock breeders.

The party noted that Mitsotakis had said the previous day that rebuilding agricultural production would be a central priority for the next four years and had admitted that ‘we have fallen behind’. It also referred to his description of the failure to revise the ELGA agricultural insurance regulation during seven years in government as deserving a ‘yellow card’.

‘Yellow card to whom, Mr Prime Minister? To yourself?’ PASOK said. ‘Was revising the ELGA regulation not a priority in your own 2019 election programme? Who prevented you from implementing it? You changed six ministers in seven years. Was somebody else governing when the OPEKEPE scandal was organised and agricultural production collapsed?

‘Does your own government bear no responsibility for the ineffective management of animal diseases and the deaths of 600,000 animals? Was it not under your government that thousands of livestock farmers were driven to despair? Did your inaction not lead to the collapse of entire productive regions?’

According to PASOK, the prime minister’s speech and subsequent press conference confirmed ‘in the clearest possible way the indifference your government shows towards the reality experienced by farmers and livestock breeders’.

‘Tax relief for 50,000 producers is not enough without measures to reduce production costs, protect agricultural income and strengthen the competitiveness of Greek production,’ the party said, adding that young farmers were still waiting for their applications to the 2024 programme to be finalised and payments to be made.

PASOK said it was clear that the government and prime minister had ‘no plan for improving the quality of life in rural Greece and tackling its depopulation’.

‘Once again, at the end of four years, you come to ask for forgiveness and deceive people all over again. Farmers have experienced your policies and your “big, empty words” first-hand… since you have been in such a musical mood over the past two days,’ the party concluded.

SYRIZA: Mitsotakis ‘cannot comprehend that people matter more than numbers’

SYRIZA spokesperson Giorgos Panagiotopoulos criticised Mitsotakis over his statements at the TIF press conference.

In a statement entitled ‘Kyriakos Mitsotakis cannot comprehend that people matter more than numbers’, Panagiotopoulos argued that the prime minister’s remarks reflected a political outlook that prioritises economic indicators over social wellbeing.

He accused the government of placing increasing burdens on households and creating difficulties for citizens, citing the cost of living, obstacles facing young people who want to start families and conditions in the labour market.

The SYRIZA representative also criticised the government’s economic and fiscal policy, referring to Greece’s relations with lenders, borrowing costs and state guarantees provided to funds and loan servicers in connection with the management of non-performing loans.

Panagiotopoulos argued that the government was failing to adequately address the financial pressures faced by citizens or protect public property.

He also announced that SYRIZA would present its own plan on private debt and the recovery of public property at the TIF on Friday 11 September, including proposals for ‘freeing citizens from crushing and unbearable debt’ and taxing large fortunes.

Konstantopoulou: ‘Mockery, crumbs, arrogance and clever tricks’

Course of Freedom leader Zoe Konstantopoulou sharply criticised Mitsotakis’s TIF press conference, describing his remarks as ‘mockery, crumbs, arrogance and clever tricks’.

‘Society has had enough of problems and lies! It needs solutions and truth!’ she said in a social media post.

KKE: ‘An admission that people can expect none of their needs to be met’

The Press Office of the Central Committee of the Greek Communist Party (KKE) said Mitsotakis’s press conference amounted to an admission that people could not expect their needs to be met under the government’s policies.

‘Mr Mitsotakis, after spending almost three hours defending the main pillars of his anti-popular policy, simultaneously admitted that people can have no expectation that their needs will be met, not today, not in 2030, not even in the next century, as long as this policy continues,’ the party said.

‘It is no coincidence that he effectively admitted that preparations for war and involvement in them, with more than 3% of GDP spent on NATO and other armament programmes such as the “Achilles Shield”, which he signed with the murderous state of Israel, translate into shortages in crucial areas of social policy such as education and healthcare.

‘It may suit Mr Mitsotakis to draw comparisons with the sinful past and present of PASOK and Tsipras, with whom he shares a common strategy, but people need to compare their lives with what they could enjoy today, in the age of artificial intelligence, and what the governments of capital are depriving them of.

‘That is why the crucial issue for the people is to move forward, putting their real needs at the centre. This is the true meaning of stability in the people’s interests, and it can be achieved through conflict with the dominant political agenda and all those who represent it, alongside the KKE.’

New Left: ‘His policy must be defeated’

New Left criticised Mitsotakis’s press conference, arguing that his statements confirmed the government’s intention to continue along the same political path.

The party described the press conference as evidence of a ‘conservative shift’, arguing that the prime minister highlighted what he regarded as the positive aspects of government policy without adequately addressing the problems faced by households.

New Left placed particular emphasis on the cost of living, accusing Mitsotakis of downplaying the issue by attributing a significant part of economic pressures to external factors. It also criticised his rejection of proposals to reduce VAT and other indirect taxes on essential goods and fuel.

The party argued that the government’s presentation of the economy did not reflect the daily experience of a significant part of society.

It cited Mitsotakis’s remarks about pensioners continuing to work, a family saving €100 a month for its children and rising rents as examples of what it described as the distance between the government’s portrayal of the economy and the problems households face.

New Left also criticised the prime minister’s comments concerning borrowers unable to meet their obligations, arguing that the government was failing to adequately address private debt.

On rights, the party accused the government of moving in a more conservative direction, particularly over possible changes to school textbooks depicting families with same-sex parents. New Left argued that the discussion was linked to pressure from conservative and far-right political circles.

The party also raised the Predator spyware case, saying Mitsotakis had failed to answer whether the Greek state had purchased the software and calling for full answers and an investigation into the surveillance scandal.

New Left concluded that the government’s policy ‘must be defeated politically’ and called for an alternative programme from the Left focused on increasing incomes, strengthening social protection and defending rights.

‘A Left that is not afraid of conflict will defeat Mitsotakis,’ the party said.

EL.A.S.: ‘Promises of political arrogance and deception’

‘After Mr Mitsotakis ignored the cost of living, profiteering and cartels in energy, supermarkets and banks for the eighth consecutive year, he made “promises” of political arrogance and deception for the future,’ the labour sector of the Greek Left Alliance (EL.A.S.) said in response to the TIF announcements.

EL.A.S. described the government’s proposal for a €1,000 minimum wage from 2028 as ‘weak’, saying it contained no commitment to strengthening collective labour agreements or enforcement mechanisms.

The party contrasted this with its own proposal for a €1,000 minimum wage from 2027, tax relief for workers with children, restoration of collective bargaining and stronger enforcement mechanisms.

EL.A.S. said the pension increase planned for 2027 had already been legislated and would remain below inflation. It argued that the €400 allowance would exclude more than 300,000 pensioners, while amounting to just €8 a month, which it called ‘the epitome of mockery’.

The party instead proposed abolishing pensioners’ and insured people’s contributions towards the cost of medicines, which it said could provide savings of up to €720 a year.

EL.A.S. also said increases for civil servants had already been legislated, while the €500 allowance would amount to only €41.60 gross a month for a newly appointed teacher, nurse or doctor.

By contrast, the party said its proposals would provide annual increases of up to €6,000 through a special pay scale and tax relief for civil servants with children.

For people with disabilities, EL.A.S. said the government was proceeding with index-linking benefits but had failed to address errors in payments by the Welfare Benefits and Social Solidarity Organisation (OPEKA), delays in approvals through disability certification centres (KEPA), reduced payments and difficulties with electronic applications.

The party called on citizens to compare Alexis Tsipras’s ‘comprehensive and coherent plan for protection and prospects’ with what it described as Mitsotakis’s ‘failed recipe of high prices, corruption and plunder’.

‘Stagnation and corruption or honesty and progress,’ the statement concluded.

Samaras: ‘He should worry about his own reputation’

Former prime minister Antonis Samaras issued a sharp response to Mitsotakis following the prime minister’s remarks at the TIF press conference.

Responding to Mitsotakis’s claim that Samaras has ‘know-how when it comes to harming New Democracy’, the former prime minister said: ‘Who has the know-how to harm the party is not decided by the Mitsotakis family, but by the people of the party.’

Samaras referred to his own election as New Democracy leader, saying that ‘800,000 Greeks elected a leader with real know-how to save the country from bankruptcy’.

He also accused Mitsotakis of showing contempt for the party’s grassroots and advised him to worry ‘about his own reputation’.

The former prime minister went on to criticise the government over the cost of living, corruption, taxation, the situation facing the middle class and the regions, and the problems experienced by farmers, livestock breeders, fishers and hospitality businesses.

He also criticised government policy on foreign affairs and migration, while referring to the OPEKEPE scandal, the Tempi train disaster and the surveillance scandal.

‘This is not the party, Mr Mitsotakis. This is the Mitsotakis party,’ Samaras concluded.

GSEE: ‘Announcements fail to address low wages and the cost of living’

The General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE) described the prime minister’s announcements as inadequate, arguing that despite individual interventions, they did not substantially address what it called the central problem facing Greek society: the widening gap between incomes and the cost of living.

According to the confederation, hundreds of thousands of workers continue to face low wages, high prices for essential goods, housing pressures and constant uncertainty over whether their income will be sufficient.

‘Workers are not asking for privileges. They are asking for the obvious: a wage that allows them to live with dignity, work with rights and genuine protection against profiteering,’ GSEE said.

The confederation stressed that the problems facing workers could not be addressed through piecemeal measures that failed to substantially improve their position amid the rising cost of living.

It called for a genuine increase in disposable income through significant wage rises, the restoration and strengthening of free collective bargaining and collective labour agreements, and effective measures to curb high prices.

‘The country needs a comprehensive development plan, not a series of electoral promises. Development must be reflected in people’s daily lives, in their purchasing power and in their ability to live with dignity from their work,’ GSEE said.

The confederation said it would continue to demand substantial real-wage increases, strong collective bargaining agreements and effective protection for workers’ incomes.

Pensioners: €400 allowance amounts to €1.09 a day

The Unified Network of Pensioners (ENDISY) criticised the measures announced by Mitsotakis at the TIF, pointing out that the €400 allowance amounts to €1.09 a day and excludes more than 300,000 pensioners because it is restricted to those aged 65 and over.

‘Pensioners do not want handouts. They do not want benefits that will be called “almost a national pension”. They do not want increases below inflation that will disappear in practice because of the cost of living. They want substantial support, which for the eighth consecutive time the country’s prime minister has failed to provide from the TIF,’ ENDISY said.

The organisation noted that the payment due at the end of November had been increased from the initially announced €300 to €400, with an estimated 2.2 million beneficiaries because of the minimum age of 65.

It also referred to increases in main pensions from 1 January 2027, linked to annual inflation and economic growth, and the abolition of the ‘personal difference’, which would allow 670,000 pensioners previously excluded from increases to receive them.

ENDISY argued, however, that more than 300,000 pensioners under the age of 65 would be excluded from the €400 allowance.

It also said pension increases were expected to be no higher than around 2.6%, while inflation stood at 3.7%, meaning that any increase would again fall below inflation.

The organisation criticised the government for failing to retroactively compensate pensioners affected by the ‘personal difference’, abolish the Pensioners’ Solidarity Contribution (EAS), reduce the 6% healthcare contribution or restore the 13th and 14th pensions.

‘It is obvious that pensioners cannot be satisfied with a €400 allowance. The pressure created by the cost of living is such that their impoverishment is becoming increasingly severe. Yet the prime minister does not understand this, which is why he has given the enormous increase of €1.09 per day,’ ENDISY said.

The organisation reiterated its demands for the full restoration of the 13th and 14th pensions, increases above inflation in both main and supplementary pensions, support for low-income pensioners and the abolition of EAS.

‘We are pensioners, we have dignity, we supported the Greek economy during the period of deep crisis and we actively call on the government, and personally on Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, to show that he understands the sacrifices we have made,’ it concluded.

Administrative judges: ‘€500 allowance is not enough’

The Association of Administrative Judges said the extraordinary €500 allowance announced by Mitsotakis would not be sufficient to address the financial pressures facing public-sector workers.

The association argued that a one-off payment could not replace the substantial income losses sustained in previous years, stressing that piecemeal or extraordinary benefits were no substitute for the restoration of the 13th and 14th salaries.

‘The prime minister’s announcement at the opening of the Thessaloniki International Fair concerning an extraordinary gross allowance of €500 once a year for civil servants, with payments beginning in December 2027, cannot address the current pressures facing public-sector employees, nor can it replace the need for stable and immediate measures towards substantial wage increases that ensure decent pay in line with inflation and the rising cost of living,’ the association said.

‘Still less can it be considered an answer to the long-standing and legitimate demand for the restoration of a right such as the 13th and 14th salaries.’

The association said the financial losses sustained by public-sector workers over previous years could not be addressed with piecemeal or extraordinary benefits.

It argued that the announcement was particularly significant given the government’s previous position that restoring the 13th and 14th salaries was either fiscally impossible or not a priority.

According to the association, the allocation of new funds to civil servants demonstrated that raising their incomes was ultimately a question of how available budgetary resources were distributed and which priorities were chosen.

The association said a recent Council of State ruling on the 13th and 14th salaries did not prevent further claims for their restoration.

It added that the demand had already been jointly submitted by all judicial associations to the Ministry of National Economy and Finance in September 2025, but that the minister had yet to respond to their request for a joint meeting.

‘With this press release, we continue to bring the issue into the public debate and demand that the claims of the judicial associations be met. We call on the Minister of National Economy and Finance to respond and schedule a joint meeting with all the judicial associations.’

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