Fourth Belharra frigate will not increase defence ministry annual spending, Marinakis clarifies

Annual defence ministry spending will not be affected by the acquisition by the Hellenic Navy fleet of a fourth Belh@rra frigate, government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis stated on Friday in an interview with the radio station Parapolitika. He explained that the amount of money given will not be greater than that budgeted for strengthening Greece’s defences in the coming years.
“Effectively, there will be a programming that includes the fact of the demand for a fourth Belh@rra frigate that was accepted by the prime minister, which will make the Hellenic Navy stronger than it has been for many decades, as having four Belh@rra frigates makes it possible to have three in our seas at all times,” he explained.
Marinakis was also questioned over the question tabled by 11 New Democracy MPs in Parliament regarding non-performing loans, replying that “it is the role of the MP to represent his constituency and not only those who vote for ND, conveying their concerns.”
He pointed out that questions tabled by multiple MPs were not unprecedented, noting that there had been 6,400 such questions and references in the last five years, while adding that this was the correct parliamentary process and that neither the ND party nor its parliamentary group were “inactivated” when in government.
The spokesperson also denied that the reply given by the national economy and finance ministry supported the banks, saying that significant steps had been made in favour of borrowers, including obliging servicers to brief borrowers regarding every detail, imposing fines and forcing them to accept the decisions of reached by out-of-court mechanisms. He also said that, if there were cases where the rules were not being followed, those responsible should be investigated, while noting that checks and balances from Parliament “can only do good”.
Marinakis also replied to questions about opinion polls and the candidates for the Ombudsman’s Office, saying that the Parliament president must strive to find the candidate for which there is the broadest consensus. He pointed out that the specific individual chosen, university professor Giorgos Sotiropoulos, was any but a partisan pick but someone nonpartistan who belonged to the broader centre left and had championed human rights.
He also announced that an event will be held on October 4 to mark the 50th anniversary of the New Democracy party, entitled “Returning to Rigillis”, while will take place in front of the building that served as the party’s historic headquarters and will feature a brief speech by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
“There will be no other speeches. It will be followed by an event. The invitation is, of course, open to all, excluding none, especially the people that led the party, those that were prominent, but also the ‘unseen heroes’ of the party, to whom it is chiefly addressed,” he said.