With a clear intention to respond to the recent statements by Alexis Tsipras, Adonis Georgiadis published a lengthy post on social media, in which he chose to describe the trajectory of the Greek economy through an allegorical narrative.

Beginning with the image of “Mrs.-Economy” who “woke up” in the summer of 2019, he argued that the country changed course thanks to the choices made by the government of New Democracy.

In his post, he lists a series of what he describes as significant achievements over the past seven years. Among other things, he mentions a reduction in tax rates, attracting investment, faster repayment of public debt, regaining investment grade status, a 60% increase in the minimum wage, a reduction in unemployment, strengthening national defense, hospital renovations, digital transformation of the government, combating tax evasion, as well as agreements in the sectors of energy, infrastructure, and hydrocarbons.

At the same time, he argues that Greece has gone from being a “cautionary tale” to a “role model” for other European countries.

The jab at Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the direct reference to Alexis Tsipras

In the final part of his post, the minister directs his criticism personally at Alexis Tsipras, arguing that the results he describes did not arise on their own but were the product of specific government choices.

Adonis Georgiadis wrote characteristically: “Sometime in July 2019, with the birds chirping in the trees, Lady Economy opened her beautiful eyes after a deep 10-year slumber and said to herself: ‘I’ve slept long enough; now it’s time to excel.’”

And he went on to list the areas in which, according to him, progress had been made: “So the first thing she did was to lower tax rates and social security contributions and attract billions in investment to the country.

But that wasn’t enough for the economy:

  • She began paying off the country’s enormous debts faster than even our most skeptical creditors ever imagined.
  • It upgraded the country’s credit rating to investment grade, up from the “junk” category that Greek bonds had been in.
  • It increased the minimum wage by 60% over the course of 6 years.
  • It began carrying out hundreds of projects across the country.
  • Strengthened the country’s defense to “Astakos” status.
  • Is renovating hundreds of hospital units and health centers.
  • It maintains a subsidy policy that has, to a large extent, helped address the crises caused by the pandemic and geopolitical developments related to fuel.
  • It has entered into agreements that will make Greece a transit, energy, communications, and data hub for all of Southeast Europe and the Middle East.
  • He signed agreements for natural gas extraction off the southern coast of Crete and in western Greece.
  • Halved unemployment.
  • Forged strong alliances with the U.S., France, and Israel, with India following suit.
  • Created one of the most effective e-government platforms in Europe.
  • He cut tax evasion in half and brought in an additional 6–7 billion in tax revenue each year, even though he had lowered tax rates.
  • “In just seven years, it managed to transform us from a cautionary tale into a model to be emulated by other European countries with large deficits.”

Concluding his post, the minister highlighted the political dimension of his stance, writing: “These are the things that, as you say, my dear friends, Mrs. Economy, and she was so effective that ‘Kyriakos’ sat in a corner watching her in amazement as she outperformed expectations, and ‘Achastos’ Leader Alexis Tsipras felt unhappy that he didn’t get to see her excel while he was Prime Minister…

Except, my dear Alexis, the economy didn’t do all this on its own—it was because we had this particular governmentand that particular Prime Minister. And thank you for the public recognition you gave us for our good work for Greece.”