Opposition Criticizes Plevris Appointment Amid EU Fraud Investigations
Thanos Plevris’s appointment has drawn immediate condemnation from opposition parties in Greece. They assert that this decision reflects a far-right agenda under Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, which they describe as “inhumane” and detrimental to the country’s image regarding refugee issues, reports 24brussels.
The Syriza party stated, “The far-right line of Mitsotakis continues unabated with the choice of Thanos Plevris, an inhumane, dead-end and frightening line overall for the refugee issue and the image of the country.”
New Left party representatives denounced his appointment as “a message of hatred, racism, authoritarianism.” They referenced Plevris’s controversial past comments suggesting that “border security cannot exist if there are no casualties and, to be clear, if there are no deaths.”
Meanwhile, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) is investigating multiple cases of alleged fraud involving Greek recipients of EU agricultural funds. These cases involve individuals who reportedly received payments for farmland they neither owned nor leased, or for agricultural work they did not carry out, thus depriving legitimate farmers of necessary funds.
This investigation was highlighted in a recent POLITICO investigation earlier this year. The EPPO’s case file has been referred to the Greek parliament due to allegations of possible “criminal offenses” involving two former ministers who previously oversaw rural development and food policy.
Under Greek law, the national parliament holds exclusive authority to investigate and prosecute current or former government members. Consequently, despite its extensive mandate for probing EU fund misuse, the EPPO lacks jurisdiction in these cases within Greece, a limitation the agency has termed a violation of its foundational EU regulation.
On Saturday, the situation escalated as two officials from the ruling New Democracy party resigned after being named in the fraud investigation. Andreas Karasarinis, the secretary of the party’s agricultural organizations, along with Yiannis Troullinos, a member of its political committee, tendered their resignations amidst the mounting scrutiny.
