The Maximos Mansion is hopeful that this year’s Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) will serve as a springboard for pushing polling numbers above the psychologically and symbolically significant 30% threshold — and, over time, for achieving even greater electoral gains. Kyriakos Mitsotakis used his presence in Thessaloniki to deliver five key messages:
To farmers, self-employed professionals, and other groups that had, for various reasons, partially or largely drifted away from New Democracy, he signaled that he recognizes their dissatisfaction and is working to address some of the injustices they have experienced. To society as a whole, he made clear that tax cuts, support measures, and similar initiatives will continue throughout the next four-year term under an ND government.
To Antonis Samaras, he made it plain that his predecessor’s past service to the party and government offers no immunity from scrutiny, and that his statements will not go unanswered. To those positioned to the right of New Democracy who are attempting to poach votes from the ruling party by accusing it of embracing the so-called “woke agenda,” Mitsotakis was unequivocal: “There is no woke agenda in Greece. I’m telling you categorically — and in any case, if some people are defending it, it is not this government.” Finally, to Tayyip Erdoğan, he underscored that while Greece “pursues good relations with Turkey, there is one major difference between us and our neighbor, and that is the delimitation of maritime zones in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean. I will never enter into a discussion with Turkey on issues that Turkey itself raises but which are non-issues for the Greek state.”
“I am proposing a new national unity, built on a broad social alliance, grounded in the patriotism of responsibility, the modernization of creativity, and care for society,” said Mr. Mitsotakis, outlining the message he intends to carry into the pre-election period next spring. The measures announced at the Vellideion Conference Centre are, as he described them, the prologue to New Democracy’s new program — “a leap in prosperity for citizens everywhere, from urban centers to the most remote village and the smallest island.” He set as a central goal the transformation of collective progress into individual advancement, with the fruits of growth returning to society as a dividend for every Greek, without ever putting fiscal stability at risk. He also stressed that “the goal of an outright parliamentary majority is achievable — it is the only political solution that will give the country a stable government going forward.”
Mitsotakis: The outreach operation targeting professional and social groups that had distanced themselves from New Democracy
The package of measures totaling €2.2 billion — encompassing subsidies, allowances, and tax relief — touches a wide range of social and professional groups. It is worth focusing, however, on some that had to a significant degree distanced themselves from New Democracy, a development that did not go unnoticed at the Maximos Mansion. Beyond polling data, the government also studies the findings of focus groups it commissions, which offer particularly valuable insights. Farmers who had experienced the scandal surrounding OPEKEPE (the Greek Payment Authority) and the delays in payments caused by the transition of the entire system to the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE) will now see income tax eliminated on earnings up to €20,000 for those whose primary occupation is farming.
For businesses — which had seen none of their key demands met at last year’s TIF — the package includes the abolition of the professional activity tax (in 2027 for regions outside Attica, and in 2029 for Attica), along with an annual 5% reduction in tax advance payments, bringing the rate down to 50% by the 2028 fiscal year.
Self-employed professionals, many of whom had been frustrated by the minimum presumptive income rules and the way they are calculated, heard an announcement of changes to the presumptive taxation system, including exemptions from surcharges for compliant taxpayers, based on their turnover and payroll.
At the same time, pensioners — who now make up nearly a quarter of the country’s population and are traditionally a more sympathetic audience for New Democracy — will see their annual welfare bonus increased by €100 (rising from €300 to €400), extended to all those aged 65 and over. Civil servants, meanwhile, will receive a Christmas bonus of €500 starting next year.
On the subject of the opposition, the Prime Minister was sardonic toward Alexis Tsipras on Saturday: “A line from a beautiful song by Dimitris Mitropanos and Aleka Kanellidou says it all: ‘Lovely words you speak, but I know who you are.'” By Sunday, his tone had sharpened: “When Mr. Tsipras was saying what he said in Thessaloniki in 2014, one might have believed he was operating under a state of self-delusion. He admitted as much himself. Now, I don’t think there’s any self-delusion — what we’re seeing now is straightforward fraud and the deception of Greek citizens, as someone makes promises that he himself knows he will never be called upon to fulfill.”
It is worth noting that Mitsotakis made no mention of Nikos Androulakis during his Saturday evening address. On Sunday at midday, he offered only a passing jab at PASOK, suggesting that it “only looks backward and is trending toward becoming a pink SYRIZA or a pink Greek Police,” signaling that while New Democracy’s electoral battle will be fought on multiple fronts, its primary confrontation will be with Mr. Tsipras.
He was particularly cutting about Antonis Samaras, saying in response to a related question that Samaras “has the know-how to damage New Democracy,” while expressing hope that he would choose not to use it and would instead reflect more carefully on his legacy. When journalists informed him after the press conference that Mr. Samaras had already posted a video in which he stated, among other things, that “this is not the political movement, Mr. Mitsotakis — this is the Mitsotakis party,” the Prime Minister fired back with a new retort: “So the party that got 18% of the vote” — in the May 2012 elections — “was the movement?” he asked.
Responding to a question from Parapolitika about mistakes he acknowledges having made, the Prime Minister said it was a “mistake” not to have moved faster on reforming OPEKEPE, and on the matter of the University Police, he conceded that it had proven “unnecessary,” since regular police forces handle that work effectively — before adding that “there is a difference between self-criticism and self-flagellation.”
