{"id":3934,"date":"2025-02-20T01:15:49","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T01:15:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/20\/pm-defends-government-amid-political-tensions-urges-europe-to-act\/"},"modified":"2025-02-20T01:15:49","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T01:15:49","slug":"pm-defends-government-amid-political-tensions-urges-europe-to-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/20\/pm-defends-government-amid-political-tensions-urges-europe-to-act\/","title":{"rendered":"PM defends government amid political tensions, urges Europe to act"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p>Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has strongly defended his government against opposition criticism, accusing rivals of fostering political instability following the deadly Tempe train disaster.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>His conservative New Democracy government has faced widespread criticism from both political opponents and the public over its handling of the Tempe rail disaster and a perceived lack of accountability.<\/p>\n<p>The tragic collision between a freight train and a passenger train nearly two years ago claimed 57 lives, including many students, and left numerous others seriously injured.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking at the Thessaloniki Summit 2025, he condemned what he described as a \u201ctoxic climate\u201d and \u201can attempt to drag political life into the mud.\u201d He challenged opposition parties, saying, \u201cIf they want to bring down the government, let them try in Parliament.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mitsotakis emphasized his commitment to stability, stating, \u201cMy primary responsibility is to keep the country on course during these turbulent times.\u201d He also rejected public judgement and online accusations, insisting that justice must be served through official legal channels. If the opposition fails to file a no-confidence motion, he promised a parliamentary debate following the release of the investigation report on the Tempe disaster.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The country is preparing for a nationwide strike and rallies on February 28, commemorating the two-year anniversary of the Tempe rail disaster.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A government reshuffle appears inevitable, though the exact timing remains undecided. The overhaul is expected to primarily remove ministers linked to the train crash and its handling, while also reinforcing the Prime Minister\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier Wednesday, prior to his Thessaloniki Summit 2025 interview, Mitsotakis participated in a virtual meeting of European leaders hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron. He urged the European Union to awaken from its geopolitical and economic inertia, warning that shifting US policies demand faster decision-making from Europe.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Mitsotakis described an upcoming European Council summit as critical, stressing that the EU must \u201cstop being a bystander in global developments.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script>\n        var NXFBPixelFunc = function () {\n            document.removeEventListener(\"scroll\", NXFBPixelFunc);\n            setTimeout(function () {\n                !function (f, b, e, v, n, t, s) {\n                    if (f.fbq) return;\n                    n = f.fbq = function () {\n                        n.callMethod ?\n                            n.callMethod.apply(n, arguments) : n.queue.push(arguments)\n                    };\n                    if (!f._fbq) f._fbq = n;\n                    n.push = n;\n                    n.loaded = !0;\n                    n.version = '2.0';\n                    n.queue = [];\n                    t = b.createElement(e);\n                    t.async = !0;\n                    t.src = v;\n                    s = b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n                    s.parentNode.insertBefore(t, s)\n                }(window, document, 'script',\n                    'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n                fbq('init', '109138906120213');\n                fbq('track', 'PageView');\n            }, 0)\n        };\n        document.addEventListener(\"scroll\", NXFBPixelFunc);\n    <\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ekathimerini.com\/politics\/1262101\/pm-defends-government-amid-political-tensions-urges-europe-to-act\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has strongly defended his government against opposition criticism, accusing rivals of fostering political instability following the deadly Tempe train disaster.\u00a0 His conservative New Democracy government has faced widespread criticism from both political opponents and the public over its handling of the Tempe rail disaster and a perceived lack of accountability. The &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"PM defends government amid political tensions, urges Europe to act\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/20\/pm-defends-government-amid-political-tensions-urges-europe-to-act\/#more-3934\" aria-label=\"Read more about PM defends government amid political tensions, urges Europe to act\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.ekathimerini.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mitsotakis_new-960x600.jpg?v=1739992941","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}