'Whenever elections are held, PASOK-KINAL will be ready,' party leader Androulakis asserts

In an interview for To Vima (published Saturday due to the holiday weekend), Androulakis said that the first round of elections, to be held on the simple proportional system, "will truly judge everyone's intentions: whether they are thinking and coming down to elections under sincere collaboration consensus/collaboration terms, or under terms of personal political survival."

Among other issues, Androulakis criticised the European Union's stance on the Ukraine war, faulting EU officials for failing to see the signs after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. He also criticised them for being entirely unprepared in defense and security, and particularly in energy issues. "We should have moved to a true Energy Union, through domestic energy production and better connections between countries, as well as have progressed further on the issue of joint foreign policy and civil defense and security, where we are moving at a snail's pace," he noted.

Speaking of the escalation of tension by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the party leader said the neighboring leader "will do anything to hold on to power, using every opportunity he has as a tool - migration, war in Ukraine, Finland and Sweden's application (to join NATO), attempting to outlaw the pro-Kurdish party HDP," and warned that Greece "must be prepared in both the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean. In Cyprus we already have a new barrage of provocations in the fenced-off area of Famagusta."

Androulakis also charged the New Democracy government with "obviously not wanting to displease powerful interests" and rejecting a Pasok-Kinal proposal for a ceiling to power charges by providers. "The government charged us with populism at the time, while now even if it admits the problem is trying skillfully to find ways to hide the true size of excessive profits," he underlined.

In addition, he said, the support measures of 43 billion euros provided by the government over 2020-2021 were not targeted properly. "Whose resilient economy are we speaking about?" For the Recovery Fund in particular, Androulakis said, the Mitsotakis government must redirect actions through large and emblematic projects that are implemented faster in order not to lose funding.