PM Mitsotakis addresses New Democracy political committee assembly

The premier referred to the government's work and to current national challenges.

"In the 71 months that I have been the leader of New Democracy, our party has changed face quite radically," noted Mitsotakis.

"But in the 29 of these months that we have been in government, our home country has also changed face, it has transformed," he added, and he continued: "Greece (...) is now moving on a path of progress. It has regained its national dignity, is protecting its rights, and is also a protagonist in Europe and on all international fronts," he stressed.

Among the recent and current challenges of national scale and significance outlined by Mitsotakis were the migration crisis in the Evros border region and in the country's islands, the coronavirus pandemic, and the 2021 summer wildfires. "Against all of these, our country pulled its resources together, defended it self, and it won," he said.

In the two years of the New Democracy government, the country got a new constitution, Greeks abroad got the right to vote in national elections from their foreign place of residence, the judicial system got a new penal code, while no fewer than 250 new laws were passed in parliament, he pointed out.

Regarding the pandemic, Mitsotakis noted that during his tenure as prime minister more than 40 billion euros in resources was mobilized against the public health crisis, ICUs more than doubled, and at least 10,000 regular and extraordinary hirings went ahead in the national health system.

The state's unfolding digital transformation was also mentioned, including the public services online platform gov.gr and its 1,300 electronic services available to citizens.

"Greece's national statistics agency ELSTAT has only just confirmed a GDP growth of 13.4 pct in the third quarter of 2021 compared to 2020, noted Mitsotakis. "It is the highest performance in Europe and a decade's record for Greece," he added.

"This means a growth of 9.3 pct in the first 9 months [of 2021] and a 7.2 pct increase in Greeks' disposable income in the first half," he said, "with the European Commission forecasting an annual growth of 7.1 pct.," the prime minister highlighted.