No more lock downs for Greece, says Greek Prime Minister in CNN Interview (video)

The Greek government will not be resorting to another national lockdown, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis underlined in an interview with CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour yesterday evening (7/12).

Mitsotakis insisted that inoculation is the only way to keep both the economy and society open and active during the persistent coronavirus pandemic.

Mandating the obligatory vaccination of people over 60 and setting a 100-euro monthly fine for them, effective as of January 16, was "a last resort," he explained. "I am a liberal politician and I do not like the idea of mandates in principle, however I do believe that we made the right decision, as soon as the Omicron variant - about which we do not yet know much - appeared, " said Mitsotakis.

Commenting on the visit of Pope Francis to Greece and his visit to the Kara Tepe refugee facility at Lesvos, the Greek premier noted that "there hasn't been sufficient solidarity at EU level in terms of sharing the [migration] burden." In the EU, he said, "there are countries that consider migration is not their problem."