Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has issued his starkest warning yet against domestic political violence, pledging to dismantle the extremist networks behind the deadly Thessaloniki firebombings and drawing an explicit parallel with Greece's historic crackdowns on the November 17 terrorist organisation and the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party.
Speaking in his weekly address on Sunday, Mr. Mitsotakis rejected any ideological justification for the 1 July coordinated arson attacks that targeted ruling New Democracy officials and claimed the life of Vagia Nestora, an elderly woman killed when her daughter's apartment building was set ablaze.
"We will not back down, nor will we allow the country to return to the years of division," he said, calling on opposition parties to reject toxic political rhetoric that he argued implicitly sanctions criminal behaviour.
Broadening his address to domestic policy, Mr. Mitsotakis sought to project governmental stability in the face of the security shock.
He confirmed that strict price caps on 2,000 essential consumer goods will remain in place through August to ease inflation pressures, and announced the immediate distribution of a €150-per-child emergency family benefit.
The premier also pointed to a series of social gains — including the permanent reversal of austerity-era cuts to widow pensions and the completion of the Penteli Children's Hospital renovation — before citing fresh OECD data he said marked a historic turning point: 98,000 Greek citizens have returned home since 2023, signalling a long-awaited shift from brain drain to brain gain.