The very significant increase in the total defence spending of all NATO member states to 5% by 2035 was decided at Wednesday's NATO summit in The Hague, where the Prime Minister participated, government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis said in a press briefing on Thursday.

"Greece is currently among the top five countries in terms of its defence spending as a percentage of GDP. We have already exceeded 3% and we have a large investment programme in our defence industry for the next 12 years, which could potentially reach 28 billion euros," he underlined.

He pointed out that "in the case of Greece, the issue of Libya has two aspects: The first is the unacceptable, illegal, non-existent Turkish-Libyan memorandum. In this regard, Greece will request that the conclusions include - once again - what was said in December 2019, namely that this memorandum is illegal, is not recognised by the European Union and therefore cannot produce any legal effect. The second issue concerns the increased refugee flows, especially from eastern Libya. We are already taking very specific measures. We raised the issue with the European Council and the prime minister personally contacted the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who in her letter - which she sends before each European Council - included the issue of Libya among the issues for discussion."

The next issue concerned the public consultation of the draft law of the Ministry of National Economy and Finance on the Customs Code, which simplifies, digitises and accelerates the operation of the country's customs offices.

"Specifically, the new framework modernises obsolete provisions, digitises all transactions, increases fines, establishes new rules and makes the opening hours of customs offices flexible, with the aim of better serving businesses."

He also referred to the Ariadne project: "The Ariadne project is at the forefront, which aims to enhance the sense of security in public transport, with an emphasis on areas where crime rates remain high." He noted that the cooperation between the ministries of infrastructure and transport and of citizen protection has already brought tangible results, thanks to the almost 55,000 inspections in four months and 900 arrests.

Marinakis underlined that security is the government's first priority. "Not with words, but with actions, for six years now, a comprehensive plan has been methodically implemented, which is constantly enriched with targeted, operational actions, to enforce legality, in every neighbourhood and in every sector of everyday life," he stressed.