In the US, Mitsotakis vows to fight graft, meets investors
Conservative opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis has accused Greece’s leftist-led government of being under the tutelage of “a new generation of oligarchs,” while vowing to reform the debt-wracked country’s business environment by combating graft and safeguarding the rule of law if he becomes prime minister.
Speaking at the Global Leaders Forum organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington last week, the New Democracy leader said his duty would be to make sure Greece “does not become a failed state when it comes to its institutions.”
“I am not going to be blackmailed and I’m certainly not going to be intimidated by anyone,” Mitsotakis said.
Asked about Moscow’s economic influence in northern Greece, also in the wake of PAOK boss Ivan Savvidis’s pitch invasion with a holstered gun earlier this month and the Georgia-born businessman’s past statement that Mitsokakis will never become prime minister, the ND leader accused Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of being “in bed” with Savvidis.
Meanwhile, during talks at the White House with Fiona Hill, special assistant to US President Donald Trump and senior director for European and Russian Affairs on the National Security Council, Mitsotakis sounded the alarm over Ankara’s unpredictable foreign policy and voiced skepticism over the delivery of stealth F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. The concerns are said to be shared by many officials in Washington.
Mitsotakis also held talks with investors and investment fund executives including Citi Global pension investments, Gramercy, Bienville Capital, Paulson&Co and Waterwheel capital management.
