Evacuation of squat in Prosfigika and conversion of the space into guesthouses for relatives of cancer patients, according to statements by Pavlos Marinakis.
The case of the refugee shelters on Alexandras Avenue has returned to the center of the political debate, following statements by government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis regarding the eviction of a squatted space and plans to develop it by the Attica Region. Mr. Marinakis described Prosfigika as a prime example of the state’s long-standing pathologies, arguing that the new use of the property marks the return of a public space to the citizens, with the aim of creating accommodation facilities for relatives of patients who are being treated at cancer hospitals. At the same time, he criticized those who oppose operations to clear squats, emphasizing that the government seeks to put abandoned or squatted spaces to use for the benefit of social needs.
“It is the most cowardly thing anyone can do, to go into anyone’s home. Whether they are a regional governor or a politician in general, or not. It shows just how few such people there are, beyond the unlawful and criminal aspects of their behavior. The Greek police must—and I am certain they will—search for the cowardly perpetrators who went to the home of a man living with his family to threaten him and essentially bully him in this way, to arrest them and bring them to justice. I, too, have been a victim of a similar—and even worse—attack, because they even set me on fire with gas canisters. “We stand with Nikos Hardalias and every victim of such an attack,” said government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis in an interview on SKAI Radio .
The detailed report on the refugee camps
“If someone wants to describe in just a few minutes one of the greatest social ills in Greece as a whole over the past decades, they can tell the story of the refugee camps,” he noted.
“Between the headquarters of the Hellenic Police—the headquarters, the national headquarters, we’re talking about Alexandras Avenue—and the country’s largest judicial institution, the Supreme Court, the Athens Court of Appeals, and behind them, key departments and courts of the Athens Court of First Instance—there stands a building that has been occupied for many, many years, with the tolerance, unfortunately, by the state and a series of governments, from a specific political camp—to call a spade a spade—and finally a government has come along, the first government to evict squatters from universities and, through the Region of Attica, is returning the space to its rightful owners—the citizens, the taxpayers who pay for it—and what is it doing? It’s turning them into guesthouses for relatives of cancer patients being treated at Agios Savvas and possibly at other cancer hospitals. And instead of all of Greek society—and first and foremost the entire political system, the mayor of Athens, everyone—saying, “Come on, you’re late! Let’s clear out every occupation in this country—throw them out!” And if there are—so as not to be misunderstood—vulnerable groups, children, and people in dire straits who need somewhere to stay, provisions have already been made so they aren’t thrown out onto the street. I’m making this aside so that the usual “solidarity” activists, anarchists, and troublemakers don’t twist my words,” he added.
“I’ll say it again: as far as I’m concerned, any such space must be cleared by the police immediately. Anyone who is there illegally—and I’m not talking about, I’ll say it again, children, the disadvantaged, and people who belong to vulnerable groups— I say this every time because we live in a country where people are always nitpicking—some people are constantly nitpicking—must be arrested immediately,” he emphasized.
“We live in a country where concerts and marches have been held in recent weeks by a specific political camp—the Left and the far-Left—because we are not all the same, because the ‘‘bad government’—I’d say belatedly, but it’s the first to do so—through the Regional Authority and Mr. Hardalias, who has even made arrangements so that any children who might be living on the streets don’t have to stay there—is handing over to Greek taxpayers, for the noble cause of supporting cancer patients and their families, a space that belongs to Greek taxpayers and is not leaving it occupied for another 5, 10 years under occupation, and here we are sitting and discussing it,” said the government spokesperson.
Regarding the bill for borrowers
Regarding the government’s legislative initiative for borrowers, Mr. Marinakis said that there are defaulters and then there are defaulters. “There are defaulters who are not at fault—people who simply couldn’t make their payments—but there are also strategic defaulters; and this government does not believe in one-size-fits-all solutions for everyone; that is why, for our truly vulnerable fellow citizens who were unable to pay, it has established a legal framework over the past three years that has resulted in the largest number of payment plans in history—60,000 payment plans were arranged,” he noted.
Regarding the ELAS party’s proposal to protect primary residences, the government spokesperson emphasized “Mr. Tsipras—and I would like to inform Ms. Koufonikolakou of this—was the prime minister who handed over the loans to the funds, abolished—or, to be precise, protection for primary residences, and voted to establish electronic auctions. So when this so-called ‘evil’ government took power, “non-performing” loans accounted for over 43% of all loans, and now they stand at 4%, with an additional 60,000 repayment plans having been arranged.”
Regarding the case of D. Avramopoulos, Mr. Marinakis emphasized that, based on what he says in his statement, it appears he has the answers to the questions that will be posed to him, “but I am not a judge, nor does the government—or any government—represent the prosecutor’s office. The government is the executive branch. ‘So, it is to his credit that he does not want parliamentary immunity to stand in the way, and the rest will be answered by the courts,’ he added.
Finally, regarding the case of Ms. Asimakopoulou, he noted that he had separated the judicial-criminal aspect from the human and political aspects, and highlighted the hypocrisy that prevails in such cases in public discourse, he emphasized that “the justice system has spoken, and its decision is fully respected. And we never attack the justice system, as others do. However, in a country and a world where every day we are bombarded with messages and emails from people, companies, and political parties we’ve never even encountered, don’t know, and haven’t bought a single product from, treating Ms. Asimakopoulou or Mr. Stavrianoudakis or anyone else as a criminal under general criminal law, as if they had done something— I’ll say it again on a personal, human level, and I want to say it once more: it is profoundly hypocritical.”
