Greek Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis said the state failed in its duty following the death of singer Giorgos Mazonakis, repeating an admission of responsibility he first made at the funeral.
In an interview with ONE Channel on the evening of Monday, September 14, Georgiadis acknowledged that the state mechanism did not function as it should have, and said he accepted the part of the blame that fell to him. He said the state had proven that it did not do its job, that he was taking on the share of responsibility that belonged to him, and that the legal framework left gaps that would now be changed.
Turning to alternative therapies, Georgiadis said quantum medicine does not exist and urged the public to be especially cautious when they come across such claims.
Party leadership speculation
Georgiadis is a senior figure in the governing New Democracy party and serves as Greece's Minister of Health. The conversation also turned to internal party dynamics, with Georgiadis asked whether he saw himself as a potential contender for the party leadership in the future. He rejected the idea and voiced support for Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. He said he was already fighting to persuade Mitsotakis to stand as prime ministerial candidate for a fourth time, adding that the party had found a good prime minister who wins elections, and that he wanted Mitsotakis to stay.
Attack on Tsipras
Georgiadis then turned his fire on former prime minister Alexis Tsipras, leader of the left-wing Syriza party. He revived a claim that in 2012 an associate of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had carried a suitcase intended to help Tsipras in his political struggle. Questioning what the suitcase might have contained, he asked whether it held underwear or coffee, and said Tsipras could not claim that his middle name was honesty.
He escalated the attack further, telling Tsipras to fight his own fight but not to take the public for fools. Georgiadis also made a harsh characterization of the head of the Greek police force, calling him money-loving and corrupt.
