Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said on Monday he was unaware Greece’s intelligence service had been bugging the mobile phone of his political opponent, PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis.
In an televised address to the nation on Monday, Mitsotakis described the phone tapping of Androulakis as a mistake that should never have occurred, and insisted that he wouldn’t have allowed it had he known.
“What was done may have been in accordance with the letter of the law but it was wrong,” Mitsotakis said. “I did not know and obviously I would never have allowed it.”
Mitsotakis said the eavesdropping took place over a three-month period last year when the newly revitalised centre-left Pasok, Greece’s third-largest political force, was preparing to elect a new leader. Androulakis, a 43-year-old MEP, had been favoured to win the race.
The Prime Minister said that although the actions “happened legally… it should not have happened, causing rifts in citizens’ trust in the national security services.”
Mitsotakis added that the case had exposed the shortcomings of the Greek National Intelligence Service and pledged an overhaul of EYP.
Greece’s political scene has been profoundly shaken by the wiretapping scandal, with the leftist opposition wasting no time in likening it to Watergate.
In a statement after Mitsotakis’ televised address, the SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance party said the Prime Minister “did not have the courage to do what is self-evident in every liberal European democracy: to resign.”
The Prime Minister “praised the National Intelligence Service (EYP) for its national role, but in his effort to shirk his own responsibility did not hesitate to present it as a service that is both disorganised and beyond control,” the statement added.
Androulakis himself dismissed Mitsotakis’ comments on Monday as a bid to play for time, saying the prime minister “methodically avoided providing explanations.”
“Mr. Mitsotakis, I request that the reason why I was under surveillance by EYP be announced forthright,” he said. “I won’t accept any cover-up.”
READ MORE: ‘Unforgivable mistake’: Greek PM under pressure over phone tapping of PASOK leader.
Source: Ekathimerini.
