The Minister of Immigration and Asylum Thanos Plevris in his speech at the 16th conference of ND, gave a strong ideological stamp by linking the political dominance of the party to the principles of security, national identity and protection of the borders.
He stressed that after the period of memoranda NWD had managed not only to survive politically but also to return stronger to power because, he said, it maintained a deep value relationship with its social base.
He said that the ND’s relationship with its voters is based on the principles of “the nation, religion and the family“, unlike PASOK and the Left who, he said, built their own relationship solely on prosperity. “When the party gives them the vote and when it doesn’t collapse,” he said.
Mr. Plevris particularly focused on the issue of security and immigration, noting that New Democracy has always been interested in “protected borders, a strong homeland and controlled immigration“. He stressed that illegalimmigration “cannot be a solution to any problem because it is the problem itself”.
Referring to Europe, he said the problem is not just moving populations but “a hard-core Islam coming aggressively into Europe,” adding that Europe must be protected. At the same time, he rejected the logic that the demographic problem can be solved through immigration, stressing that “the demographic problem is a national problem and not a numerical one”.
Thanos Plevris also said that the government’s goal is to create the conditions for more Greeks to be born through incentives and policies supporting the family.
Closing his speech, the Minister of Immigration and Asylum said he is a “right-wing politician” and responded to those who – he said – accuse New Democracy of ideological discounts. He argued that the country had never before had “a tougher immigration policy, a tougher security policy and a better equipped country” than today under the government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
At the same time, he challenged those who identify themselves as more right-wing outside the New Democracy to open a public debate on the issues of security, immigration policy and defense, saying that New Democracy maintains “its basic axiomatic code, the code of the gay party.”
