Prime Minister and President of New Democracy, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, is taking part in the two-day meeting of the leaders of the European People’s Party (EPP), being held in Zagreb.

Upon his arrival, Mr. Mitsotakis was asked to comment on the level of Greece’s defense spending and how it is communicated to citizens. As he emphasized, Greece has historically spent more than 2% of its GDP on defense, even during periods when many European countries did not come close to that level, due to its particular geographical conditions and national priorities. Today, he noted, Greece’s defense spending exceeds 3% of GDP.

The Prime Minister stressed that citizens understand that security is a prerequisite for prosperity and democracy and therefore recognize the necessity of such expenditures. At the same time, he pointed out the government’s intention to ensure greater participation of the Greek defense industry in armament programs, a direction toward which, as he said, concrete steps are already being taken.

Referring to the economy, Mr. Mitsotakis noted that the country’s fiscal strength allows for the strengthening of defense without jeopardizing other key policy objectives, such as reducing taxes for the middle class and maintaining a primary surplus.

“We have achieved the right balance,” he said characteristically, adding that Greece, through its increased defense spending, is also making a substantial contribution to strengthening Europe’s strategic autonomy, with the support and understanding of the Greek people.

Full statement

Journalist: Defense spending amounts to approximately 3% of GDP. How do you communicate this to your voters? Why do you spend so much money on defense?

Kyriakos Mitsotakis: First of all, Greece has traditionally spent more than 2% of its GDP on defense, at a time when most European countries were not even approaching that level. We did so because of our own geographical conditions and our own national priorities. We have increased our defense spending to over 3% of GDP.

I believe that citizens understand that in order to be a prosperous and democratic country, we must be safe. They accept that these expenditures are necessary. They want to see much greater participation by the Greek defense industry in our defense spending, and of course we are moving in that direction.

And, of course, thanks to the robustness of our economy, we have the ability to spend 3% of our GDP on defense while at the same time continuing to reduce taxes for the middle class, while maintaining a primary surplus.

Therefore, I believe that we have achieved the appropriate balance, and the Greek people recognize, respect, and support the fact that we consistently spend more on defense, thereby also contributing to European strategic autonomy. Thank you.