PM Mitsotakis: April could prove "decisive" for the future

"We are not at the beginning of the end. We are probably at the end of the beginning," Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday in parliament, during a plenary debate on the measures to address the novel coronavirus crisis. He also stressed the importance of not allowing the healthcare system to become overwhelmed.

The prime minister said that "April may prove decisive for the future" and spoke of the first "cautiously hopeful results" but also stressed that "what is coming requires firm dedication to the goal, discipline, unity and solidarity."

At the same time, the prime minister stated his rejection of all extreme authoritarian measures, such as those imposed in Hungary: "I am here to serve a political project...Our way is non-negotiable and is always the way of truth and parliamentary democracy," he said.

The prime minister gave a brief run-down of the measures, noting that they were taken "very early," in conjunction with an information campaign and the simultaneous planning of the first measures to support individuals and businesses. He also pointed out that the timing was not "neutral", since a second battle was underway in Evros to defend the Greek and European borders.