G. Nikitiadis: We will not allow New Democracy to destroy our islands by undermining the foundations of small property ownership
Parliamentary question submitted by PASOK’s parliamentary group on the new framework for small settlements
Harsh criticism is being leveled against the New Democracy Government by George Nikitiadis, PASOK MP for the Dodecanese and former Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism, regarding Presidential Decree 194/2025, which concerns the zoning of settlements with fewer than 2,000 inhabitants. The decree severely limits the potential use of small properties across the Greek countryside, especially on the islands.
In a question submitted by PASOK’s Parliamentary Group, co-signed by Mr. Nikitiadis, it is emphasized that the controversial Presidential Decree will lead to mass devaluation of properties, unthinkable inequalities, and a new wave of abandonment of our islands and rural areas. The impact on the Dodecanese in particular is described as devastating: hundreds of small property owners in islands such as Kos, Rhodes, Karpathos, Kasos, Halki, Tilos, Nisyros, Symi, Leipsoi, Arki, Kastellorizo and other small islands are losing the right to utilize family properties that for decades supported the social fabric, sustainable development, and the continued presence of locals in border areas.
The decree was imposed in an authoritarian manner, without any information or consultation with local communities, causing unrest and creating conditions that benefit large real estate-type corporate interests. Small plots that were previously deemed usable are overnight reclassified as agricultural land, and small parcels are now treated in an entirely unequal manner. The implementation of the new framework is expected to lead to land concentration in the hands of a few and to “distress sales” by small owners.
Immediately after the question was submitted by PASOK’s parliamentary group, George Nikitiadis made the following statement:
“We will not allow the Dodecanese, our islands, and rural Greece to be turned into a forbidden zone for their own people, while the government acts as a broker for powerful interests. Small property ownership in the Dodecanese is not a luxury – it is the right of islanders to remain on their land, to invest, to build. The unprecedented assault by New Democracy on the heart of small property ownership – the backbone of island society – undermines the demographic and economic future of our already neglected islands under the Mitsotakis government. This will not stand.“
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