Greece’s Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis said the government is already implementing the largest tax cuts since the restoration of democracy in 1974, in an interview with state broadcaster ERT.
The EuroGroup President outlined the economic priorities and commented on Europe’s geopolitical challenges.
Pierrakakis said measures announced at the Thessaloniki International Fair are boosting disposable income for public- and private-sector employees as well as self-employed workers.
“A public or private employee experiences a tax cut as a direct increase in the money deposited in their bank account each month,” he said. Fiscal space for 2026 has already been set at 800 million euros, he added, with the government maintaining a strategy of gradual further tax reductions. “Things move forward when they are mature and ready,” Pierrakakis said.
On the issue of Greenland and the rising geopolitical tensions with the United States, the minister stressed it was primarily are concern for the citizens of Denmark and Greenland, but touches on core European principles.
“International law, sovereignty and territorial integrity are clear reference points for Europe,” Pierrakakis said, highlighting the need for continued dialogue alongside unity and coordination among EU member states. Greece, he added, is actively contributing to this common European approach.
Against a backdrop of growing geopolitical uncertainty, Pierrakakis said European countries are expanding defense programs, noting that Greece has long maintained high levels of defense spending due to its strategic environment.
He pointed to EU initiatives such as the €150 billion SAFE instrument and the defense-related fiscal escape clause, as well as efforts to promote joint procurement of military equipment. Such initiatives, he said, deliver “multiplier effects” for the economy by strengthening industrial capacity, technological development and Europe’s strategic autonomy.
source ERT
