Support for a tough mission

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is faced with three difficult problems: the refugee/migration issue, tensions in Greek-Turkish relations and power games among influential business interests. All of these are explosive issues and none of them has an obvious or easy solution.

There is definitely no solution on the horizon to the refugee/migration issue, while the other two pose a national or even a political risk.

At the same time, the prime minister has been confronted with the harsh Greek reality. The Greek state does not lend itself to change easily or quickly. Its ways of doing things and problems always remain an obstacle to anyone who wants to move quickly and efficiently.

But neither can the DNA of the political and party system change overnight, or even in one year. Clientelistic habits are deeply rooted and it has to be said that, to a great extent, politics does not exactly attract people of a very impressive level. However, this is the country we have and it must nevertheless change.

The economic crisis did great damage to the social fabric and killed off productive elements of the country. Institutions were shaken and the mechanisms of the state essentially collapsed.

We completely lost our perspective, along with any notion of an ambitious vision and serious goals for the future.

The current prime minister, however, is one of those politicians who believe that the country can change. He built his own “brand” on the need for reforms and the goal of turning Greece into a country that can compete in a very tough international arena.

He has shown that he can take risks and that everyone who underestimated him was wrong.

At times we complain and we obviously criticize the government when it reneges on pledges or uses practices that should have remained in the past. We know no other way to do our job.

The truth is that it is very easy to ignore reality and ask for the moon in a country that has structural problems weighing it down and a veritable minefield of issues ready to explode.

If the current administration does not succeed, we can expect a chaotic government vacuum with unknown actors at play. The mission is extremely difficult and that is why the government needs support, along with constructive criticism.