Spying Scandal Stirs Political Storm in Greece and Shakes Mitsotakis' Government

After revealing dark practices in the corridors of her country's government, Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou called, on August 9, 2022, to open an investigation into the spying scandal of opposition politicians in the country.

For a week, Greece has been witnessing a political spying scandal, which has so far resulted in the resignation of the head of the Greek intelligence service and the Secretary-General of the Prime Minister's Office, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, amid calls for more resignations, The Guardian reported on August 7, 2022.

The scandal exploded amid growing concern in the European Union over the use of spyware, with opposition parties demanding a thorough investigation and labeling the revelations a Watergate that should cost Mitsotakis’ post.

This is the third alleged case of spying in Greece in less than a year, where two Greek journalists, one specialized in immigration and the other in finance, announced they had taken legal action after spying allegations and surveillance by the country's government, which had been subjected to harsh international criticism for restricting the freedom of the media.

 

Political Scandal

Last week, Mitsotakis government was dealt a painful blow after it was revealed that the National Intelligence Service, which reports directly to the President's office, had been wiretapping on the mobile phone of Nikos Androlakis, leader of the PASOK (Socialist) party, the third party in Parliament, the MEP and the most prominent political opponent of Mitsotakis.

Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou said, in a statement on August 9, 2022, that “protecting the right to privacy is a prerequisite for the existence of a democratic and liberal society, and that respect for democracy must transcend political wrangling,” calling for an immediate and complete clarification of the issue of intelligence eavesdropping on phone calls.

The great pressure over Mitsotakis' government forced it to accept the left-wing opposition's request to present the opening of parliament sessions from August 31 as scheduled, and to hold an extraordinary session on August 22 to discuss the repercussions of the case.

On his part, Nikos Androlakis said, in a televised speech on the evening of August 5, “I never imagined that the Greek government would spy on me, or use such disgusting means.”

Androlakis continued: “It is our democratic duty to protect the human rights and freedoms of Greek citizens. The day of judgment has come for those whose arrogance and the illusion of impunity were able to, until they thought they could do anything, without anyone being held accountable.”

According to what was revealed, Andrulakis had been spying on his mobile phone over a period of 3 months, specifically in the run-up to his election as PASOK party leader in September 2021.

A few hours before Andrulakis' speech, the Prime Minister's Office announced the resignation of the head of the National Intelligence Service, Panagiotis Kontoleon, who is well respected in the country, for wrongdoing.

Kontoleon's resignation followed the shocking announcement that Grigoris Dimitriadis, the prime minister's nephew and closest aide, had also resigned, taking the blame from his boss (Mitsotakis), who had hoped those steps would be enough to bring the curtain down on the political scandal.

However, by August 8, Mitsotakis, whose party faces a battle for re-election next year, was forced to admit that wiretapping opponents' phones was a grave and unforgivable mistake, and the resignations were interpreted as an admission of guilt.

The Prime Minister said in a televised speech that this monitoring process was carried out legally after obtaining the approval of the Public Prosecution of the Supreme Court, but it was a mistake.

He added, “I was not aware of it. If I had, I would not have allowed it,” describing the work carried out by the National Intelligence Service as politically unacceptable, and criticizing the long-term failures of this service.

It is noteworthy that the National Intelligence Service has been under the authority of Kyriakos Mitsotakis since his election in July 2019, as part of one of the first reforms undertaken by the new right-wing government majority.

 

Greek Watergate

The scandal’s exposure to the public came after Andrulakis announced that the European Parliament had informed him that someone had tried to hack his mobile phone and spy on it using the Predator spyware, which can access encrypted messages and activate cameras and microphones on mobile phones, which was developed in North Macedonia and then in “Israel."

The European Parliament was able to detect the spying attempt by relying on the cyber security service that Parliament introduced to provide to lawmakers to protect their phones from spying and illegal surveillance.

In late July, Andrulakis filed a complaint petition with the Public Prosecutor at the Supreme Court of Greece. In it, he explained in detail the attempt to spy on his phone calls by the Predator program.

Last April, CNN Greece financial journalist Thanasis Koukakis said he was notified by the digital rights group Citizen Lab that his phone was monitored by the same spyware from July to September 2021. .

Last February, a case of alleged wiretapping by the intelligence services of the Greek investigative journalist on immigration, Stavros Malichudis, was brought to the Supreme Court.

Mitsotakis government has repeatedly denied its involvement in the alleged wiretapping that was revealed over the past few months, noting that the state did not buy such programs, according to AFP.

What was shocking, however, was what was revealed by two Greek deputies who spoke to Reuters in early August, on condition of anonymity, that Panagiotis Kontoleon had admitted before a parliamentary committee on July 29 that his service had wiretapped journalist Koukakis.

Alexis Tsipras, the former prime minister and President of the Radical Left Coalition SYRIZA (extreme left), likened the spying scandal in Greece to the US Watergate scandal, saying it was a terrible insult to our democracy, and vowed to spare no effort in exposing wrongdoing.

“The current center-right government of Mitsotakis should reveal the full details of the spying scandal and the names of all politicians who were targeted for spying,” Tsipras said.

“This is not just a grave and unforgivable mistake, it is a shameful scandal that shows the arbitrary arrogance of this regime, and of the prime minister, who thought that no one would hold him accountable,” Tsipras added.

It is noteworthy that the investigative website, Roberters United, had revealed that the resigned second official, Dimitriadis, is linked to people directly or indirectly involved in the wiretapping case.

As revealed by Reporters Without Borders, “a company owned by Dimitriadis was doing business with Intellexa, a company that sells Predator spyware, which over the course of four years has signed contracts with the Greek state for police security systems and the Ministry of Citizen Protection.”

Greece ranks 108th out of 180 countries in the 2022 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders, the lowest in the European Union.

 

Early Elections

Whenever he meets with the media, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis faces a question about the possibility of early elections in the country, even though he still has 12 months to go before his four-year term expires.

Analysts expected Greece to run in early elections likely in light of the economic and political crises that Mitsotakis' government is experiencing, pointing out that all the country's parties are ready for the elections.

The general sense of desperation, due to the high price of fuel and food, and inflation reaching its highest level in three decades, has prompted the Greek government in recent months to launch a program to subsidize fuel and electricity for the poorest families, but this money has run out.

Mitsotakis has repeatedly stressed that he intends to complete his four-year term, but has also indicated that this could change if Greece appears to be preparing for a toxic general election campaign.

His most prominent opponent, leftist former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, does not offer any opportunity to attack Mitsotakis, according to the liberal Greek daily Kathimerini.

Tsipras accused the government of mismanagement of the Covid pandemic, which has killed more than 30,000 people, of rapprochement with big business, and of failing at the same time to help the Greeks avoid the repercussions of high energy prices.

Many analysts expect that Mitsotakis will announce the matter after mid-August or in the fall.

“All the country's parties are in a state of preparation for the elections,” said Antonis Papargiris, the research director of polling firm GPO.

It is noteworthy that the last double elections in Greece took place a decade ago, as there was a need to hold one after another in May and June 2012, at the height of the Greek debt crisis, before the formation of a tripartite coalition government.