Mitsotakis in indirect criticism of Trump, Musk

At the first cabinet meeting of the new year held on Friday, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for the first time publicly criticized – albeit indirectly – the incoming Trump administration and particularly Elon Musk, a close associate of the US president-in-waiting and likely minister in the new administration.

While the premier did not refer to the South African-born billionaire by name, the reference to Musk was clear: “An unprecedented scenario is taking shape, where global economic elements have assumed the role of shaping public opinion in many countries, a phenomenon which, with the assistance of the insatiable consumption of fake news, is laying siege to, I would say, the Western culture of reason and democracy.”

Mitsotakis was also critical of the president-elect’s policy on Greenland, saying the world now found itself overshadowed by “relatively unprecedented announcements announcing geostrategic changes [and] changes in zones of influence.”

The unofficial interpretation given for this important intervention by the prime minister is that Mitsotakis cannot turn a blind eye to recent events, especially given Musk’s public attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of European countries, such as Germany.

The prime minister, in analyzing the “tectonic upheavals … in what we understand as politics when we also consider what is taking place across the Atlantic”, underlined that a response is needed at the Brussels level, noting that these issues are already preoccupying “the EU at the highest level.”

The fact is that the government has been alarmed by the first steps of the new US administration and the way in which it has demonstrated its intention to get involved in the internal affairs of other countries.

Turning to domestic issues, Mitsotakis said that “despite the difficulties that exist, Greece is responding positively as a country of stability in an unstable world and as a political and governmental majority which today inspires confidence in the midst of repeated governmental crises from Germany to Canada, another G7 country which has entered a politically testing time.”

He also spoke of an economy “which continues to be an optimistic exception in Europe,” noting that this fact was also reflected by the further de-escalation of inflation.

However, for the state to function properly, he said it was essential for disciplinary justice to be administered much more quickly and that those guilty of breach of faith do not go unpunished.

“Despite the progress that has been made, today we have more than 2,500 cases that are stagnating in 92 disciplinary councils. In half of them, in fact, the process has not yet started, a rapporteur has not been appointed and the time to complete the procedures can sometimes exceed five years,” he said.

The government was introducing an initiative to speed up this process, he added.