Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was unusually contrite at the weekend. “We failed,” he wrote on Facebook, promising to step up the fight against corruption — even within his own party, New Democracy (ND).
Mitsotakis was responding to the latest scandal concerning the misuse of EU subsidies in Greece, which is currently being investigated by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO).
The scandal revolves around several hundred million euros in agricultural subsidies, which were paid out to applicants by the Greek government agency OPEKEPE.
Examples include subsidies for nonexistent sheep and goats on the island of Crete and banana plantations on Mount Olympus.
Ministers reporedly involved
It is reported that this happened with the knowledge of two former agriculture ministers in Mitsotakis’s government: Makis Voridis, who was in office from 2021 to 2023, and his successor, Lefteris Avgenakis, who held the post until 2024.
Voridis, who also enjoys a good reputation as a legal expert, was made migration minister in March of this year. He resigned on Friday, saying he wished to focus on “defending his innocence.”
Three other state ministers implicated in the scandal have also submitted their resignations.
Not a new scandal
The reports relating to OPEKEPE surfaced several months ago, and, on June 17, the European Commission imposed a fine of €415 million ($486 million) on Greece.
The EPPO lodged an official complaint in May and accused the Greek authorities on Crete of trying to obstruct investigations.
But the government did not respond to the accusations and took no action — until last week, when the EPPO sent information to the Greek parliament about the reported involvement of ministers in criminal activities.
It did so because, according to Greek law, only parliament has the authority to investigate current or former members of the government.
A ‘criminal organization’
This means that, for the past week, Greek lawmakers have been able to study the 3,000-page file submitted by the EPPO, which may not, however, be published.
It describes a “criminal organization” comprising OPEKEPE officials, lawmakers and individuals who illegally obtained EU money.
The file names 15 lawmakers — 13 from the ruling ND party and one each from the opposition parties PASOK and Syriza — as well as regional civil servants and former OPEKEPE executives.
It also describes how the organization worked — above all in Crete.
Explosive conversations
Despite the ban on publication, Greeks have been able to read in newspapers in recent days some explosive conversations between officials from the ruling party that were contained in this file.
Some of the transcripts read like mafia film scripts.
They include discussions between high-ranking civil servants about how they could, with the help of the justice minister, keep EPPO staff members out of the investigation.
Until the publication ban is lifted, the authenticity of these conversations cannot be proved. Mitsotakis, however, does not seem to question their authenticity.
“The dialogues that have been uncovered are causing outrage and anger,” he wrote in his Facebook post, adding that everyone who is proved to have received EU money that they are not entitled to will be required to pay it back.
He also announced that OPEKEPE would be abolished by the end of the year.
Mitsotakis under pressure
The prime minister is trying to portray himself as a reformer and fighter in the battle against corruption and incompetence in the Greek political system. Whether the Greek public will buy it, remains to be seen.
His time in office has been overshadowed by numerous scandals, including the wiretap scandal, the deadly refugee ship tragedy off the coast of Pylos and, above all, the Tempi railway disaster.
Each time, he has pledged to get to the bottom of the scandals and that there would be consequences for those involved. None of this has happened.
This explains why over 70% of respondents in every survey conducted since the beginning of the year accuse the government of a cover-up.
In addition, it is the EU — in the form of the European Parliament and the EPPO — and not the Greek authorities themselves that is pushing for the resolution of the wiretap scandal, the train tragedy and now the OPEKEPE scandal.
Even tougher stance on migration?
One thing is certain: Mitsotakis faces yet another crisis and is trying to move past it as quickly as possible, among other things with a political message to an increasingly conservative public and the right wing of his party, which is not always happy with his policies.
Mitsotakis appointed Thanos Plevris migration minister at the weekend.
Plevris, like Voridis before him, used to be a member of the extreme right-wing Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS). He is the only member of the conservative ND party who advocates for an even tougher stance on migration than his predecessor.
Plevris has since 2011 had a very clear idea of how to resolve Greece’s migration problem, namely by strict surveillance of the borders and deterrent measures that make the country look like “hell” to immigrants.
Speaking at a conference of the extreme right-wing magazine Patria at the time, he said there was no border security without victims, adding that “border protection needs deaths.”
And, for those who did make it across the Greek border, he had another suggestion: They should get no social security, no food, no drink and no access to the health system. “They have to have it even worse than in their own countries,” he said, to the applause of those listening.
That was almost 15 years ago, but Plevris has never distanced himself from his xenophobic past.
This article was originally published in German.
