The political situation in Athens is deteriorating rapidly one month before the elections after Belgian authorities asked the EU Parliament to lift the immunity of Greek MEP Alexis Georgoulis, who faces rape accusations.
After the announcement by EU Parliament chief Roberta Metsola, Georgoulis was immediately dismissed from the leftist Syriza party, while on Tuesday, he was also kicked out of the Left group in the EU House.
Main opposition Syriza party leader Alexis Tsipras asked to shed light on the case immediately.
“No tolerance, no cover-up, no matter how high someone is”, he said.
For its part, the EU Left group said it takes the allegations “extremely seriously” and is committed to preventing and eradicating all forms of violence and harassment.
The alleged victim was a former employee of the European Parliament and currently works for the European Commission. She is also an executive of the Greek socialist party (Pasok).
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, the alleged victim said the incident occurred in early 2020, and she immediately filed a complaint providing the necessary data, such as forensic reports.
Greek MEP accused of sexual harassment
Belgian authorities have requested the European Parliament to lift the immunity of Greek MEP Alexis Georgoulis (EU Left) after an EU Commission employee filed a complaint of sexual harassment. The MEP rejected the complaint as a “lie” one month before …
Four months later, in May 2020, “I felt ready to give the name of the abuser to the Belgian authorities, who are the only ones responsible for handling the case”, she said.
However, it remains unanswered why the Belgian authorities delayed the procedures considering that the complaint was filed almost three years ago.
Brussels-based lawyers told EURACTIV that it is highly likely that the Belgian authorities launched an investigation back then, and only when they had sufficient data did they request the lifting of the MEP’s immunity.
The MEP claims he was not aware at all of the complaint, while his lawyers, in a statement, insisted that he was innocent.
The ruling New Democracy party hit Syriza, asking whether the party was aware of the case.
When rumours about misbehaviour reached the Syriza party a couple of years ago, the head of the delegation Dimitris Papadimoulis asked the MEP for explanations. However, Georgoulis firmly denied that there was something wrong.
EURACTIV was informed that Syriza then launched its “own investigation” too; however there was no result considering that the Belgian authorities were examining the case in secrecy.
In addition, EU Parliament services did not report any wrongdoing, Syriza sources claim.
The alleged victim also hinted that Syriza officials leaked the alleged victims name to the Greek press breaching her privacy considering that she kept the case confidential “even from her family”.
Pasok also pointed at Syriza for the leaks, something that the leftist party firmly denied.
However, it raises questions the fact that her name was first published on mainstream pro-government media.
Earthquake before the elections
The case has caused a political earthquake in Greece ahead of the 21 May national elections.
The ruling New Democracy party (EPP) leads the polls (29%) closely followed by Syriza (24.6%) and Pasok (9.5%).
Pasok is expected to play the kingmaker’s role in forming a coalition government and will have to partner with either New Democracy or Syriza.
Pasok keeps its cards secret until the elections, but the alleged rape incident makes the situation more complex.
Relations between New Democracy and Pasok have been bad since it was revealed that the phone of socialist leader Nikos Androulakis was bugged by secret services which are under the control of the Greek prime minister.
The alleged rape incident, analysts suggest, will also put the relations between Syriza and Pasok to the test.
According to the new electoral law, it’s almost inevitable that only a coalition will manage to form a government.
(Sarantis Michalopoulos | EURACTIV.com)
Source: euractiv.com
