The surveillance scandal against politicians, journalists and businessmen is a stain on the Greek democracy that is growing bigger every week, Pavol Szalai, head of Reporters Without Borders’ (RSF) European Union and Balkans office, told EURACTIV, urging Greek authorities to finally act and Europe to step in.
Meanwhile, influential conservative former prime minister Antonis Samaras (EPP) made a speech on Wednesday criticising the ruling New Democracy party’s radio silence over the scandal.
“The surveillance scandal is a stain on the Greek democracy that is growing bigger every week. And it will keep growing until the Greek government and justice don’t assume their responsibilities,” Szalai said.
He added that the whole of Europe sees the stain, and only the Greek authorities do not want to.
“But if rule of law fails in Greece, we will all fail. That’s why we expect strong actions also from the European institutions,” he added.
The Greek “Watergate” scandal has been shaking Greek politics since the summer when it was revealed that journalists, officials and opposition members were subject to surveillance, wiretapping and phone hacking.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he was unaware of such activities despite enacting a law that placed him in direct supervision of intelligence since the day he became prime minister.
However, his chief of staff and nephew, Grigoris Dimitriadis, and the head of secret services resigned following the revelation.
But still, all are in the dark as the government refuses to reveal the reasons behind the surveillance conducted by secret services invoking “national security” matters.
More and more lists of people under surveillance are being published every week by leftist Documento journal, with the most recent one involving the head of the Greek Army.
Yet, To Vima and Ta Nea journals have revealed that Predator software was being used by secret agents in a public building in Athens, although the government insists that it has not purchased the software.
Main opposition leader and former prime minister Alexis Tsipras (Syriza – EU Left) visited on Wednesday the Hellenic Authority for Communication Security and Privacy (ADAE) and requested access to all information related to wiretapped politicians, judges and journalists in the last three years, as the law allows.
“The hide and seek with democratic institutions is coming to an end”, Tsipras stated.
The wiretapped politicians, mainly from the ruling party, have not spoken out either. Documento journal reported that they were blackmailed because personal data was collected during the surveillance period.
Former PM Antonis Samaras. [EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET]
One of the victims was former prime minister Antonis Samaras, who also belongs to ruling New Democracy party. At a speech yesterday, he urged the government to stop hiding behind the ‘confidentiality’ argument.
“I don’t want to believe that the government was tapping phone conversations. It would be unthinkable. If all this were true, it would undoubtedly be an anti-democratic deviation,” he said.
“And for this, clear and complete answers must be given without second thoughts, without giving the impression above all that ‘confidentiality’ is a convenient excuse”, he added.
Following public pressure, the government devised a legislative proposal to better protect citizens against surveillance by secret services. The law is expected to be discussed today at the parliament, and the opposition parties will reject it.
For RSF, the bill only offers “largely cosmetic improvements” that fall far short of the organisation’s recommendations last month.
“Drafted in haste and in an irregular manner, this bill suffers from major defects. We regret that the Mitsotakis government has not realised the extent to which press freedom has deteriorated in Greece,” RSF said in a statement.
“The government has learned few lessons since the warning it received in the form of Greece’s ranking in RSF’s press freedom index seven months ago”, the statement added, referring to a report showing that Greece fell from rank 70 in 2021 to 108 in 2022, the worst ranking for an EU member when it comes to press freedom.
At the EU level, the Commission’s leadership has remained silent over the case, with Renew Europe MEP Giorgos Kyrtsos estimating that the European People’s Party (EPP) is offering a protecting shield to Mitsotakis’ government.
MEP: Weber white-washes Greek PM in wiretapping scandal [VIDEO]
The leader of the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) Manfred Weber is providing political cover to Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis over the so-called “Greek Watergate”, Renew Europe MEP Georgios Kyrtsos told EURACTIV in an interview.
All political groups in the EU House have condemned the scandal except the centre-right EPP, to which New Democracy belongs.
The socialist group has been more vocal, calling for snap elections.
“What is clear for the European progressive family is that Greece needs a political change,” told EURACTIV in an interview in late August Iratxe García, the leader of the Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament.
In an interview with DW, Dutch MEP Sophie in ‘t Veld (Renew Europe) said the Greek scandal may be “something bigger” t than ‘Watergate’ in the US.
Ahead of the crucial national elections due in 2023, some estimate that the political atmosphere has become toxic and even question whether the country will be able to hold fair elections unless the surveillance scandal is sorted out.
A report conducted by the EU Parliament’s PEGA committee says the situation should be urgently clarified “so as not to cast any doubt on the integrity of the elections in 2023.”
New Democracy is still leading the polls, but it’s highly unlikely that it will form a single-party government after the elections. Meanwhile, polls show that the Greek youth overwhelmingly backs opposition Syriza.
(Sarantis Michalopoulos | EURACTIV.com – Edited by Alice Taylor)
Source: euractiv.com
