Μake us preferred on Google Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited the electoral stronghold of former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on Thursday, traveling to an area where Samaras retains considerable influence and where the governing New Democracy party has reason to step up its presence.
If Samaras moves ahead with plans to establish a new political party, Messinia is one of the constituencies where he could secure a strong showing and draw votes away from New Democracy.
Mitsotakis used his visit to Kalamata to hold a series of meetings alongside the region’s lawmakers. A Maximos Mansion official told TO BHMA with satisfaction that the visit “went very well.”
Intervention on behalf of olive producers
Although the visit was considered successful, the former prime minister continues to have a strong political presence in the region and considerable influence among conservative voters.
The tour also produced a tangible outcome for olive producers. Local lawmakers had raised their concerns, with New Democracy MP Miltos Chrysomallis speaking publicly on BEST TV about low olive oil prices, delays in agricultural payments and difficulties finding workers for the harvest. He had also proposed establishing a unified agency or digital platform to speed up the process of recruiting foreign agricultural workers.
According to To Vima, the issue was discussed at the Panellinion cafe, where Mitsotakis stopped for coffee after walking along Kalamata’s waterfront. New Democracy MP Periklis Mantas brought up the figures for this year’s harvest.
Although olive trees have produced a large crop, the yield of oil is low. Meanwhile, high daily wages for agricultural workers and selling prices are squeezing producers’ incomes.
According to the same sources, after listening to the discussion around the table, Mitsotakis asked Thanasis Kontogeorgis to organize a broad meeting at the Maximos Mansion next week to examine support measures for olive producers.
The prime minister also made a notable comment during his visit to Oichalia, stressing that “we must cover the country’s food needs, particularly for products that, unfortunately, we still import.”
He went on to highlight the importance of “creating 200 jobs in this area and the support you will receive through the Just Transition Development Program (JTD). Supporting areas undergoing the post-lignite transition is a major priority for us. We have done this in northern Greece, and we are doing it here as well, for the Megalopoli area.”
Full schedule of visits
The tour began at a residential care facility in Meropi for adults on the autism spectrum. According to sources, the prime minister requested a full briefing on plans to expand the facility and pledged that the necessary funding would be secured.
He then visited a tomato-producing hydroponic facility under construction in Oichalia.
In Kalamata, he was briefed on plans to upgrade the airport through an investment program worth €120 million and visited a construction site along the Kalamata-Rizomylos-Pylos-Methoni road corridor.
Mitsotakis set the summer of 2028 as the target for completion of both the road project and the Gialova bypass.
He also attended the inauguration of a new sewage sludge treatment facility and addressed a conference organized by the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece (KEDE).
The day’s official schedule also included the signing of a program agreement for a new correctional facility in Megalopoli.
“Today is an important day because Megalopoli is not hearing yet another promise. It is seeing specific agreements being signed,” the prime minister said, among other remarks.
From Samaras’ Messinia, Mitsotakis’ next stop will be the Karamanlis stronghold of Serres.
On Sunday, November 8, the prime minister is expected to visit the region for celebrations honoring its patron saints, the Archangels. He will be accompanied by the local New Democracy lawmaker and Deputy Minister Tasos Hatzivasileiou.
Serres is the birthplace of former President and Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis. Former Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis also visited the region on October 28, Greece’s national holiday. Mitsotakis’ upcoming visit therefore carries its own political symbolism for New Democracy.
