As the OPEKEPE agricultural subsidy scandal continues to roil Greek politics, one cabinet member has chosen a strikingly different approach from his colleagues: go after the prosecutors.
Adonis Georgiadis, Greece’s minister of health and one of the ruling New Democracy party’s most combative voices, appeared on a television program and delivered a broadside against the European Public Prosecutor’s Office — the EU body whose case files have named 13 New Democracy lawmakers in a widening investigation into alleged fraud and political interference linked to EU agricultural subsidies distributed through OPEKEPE.
“The institution of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office is not a serious institution,” Georgiadis said. “It is a simple law of the Greek state. Tomorrow we vote and that’s it.” The remarks amounted to a suggestion that parliament could simply legislate the EPPO out of existence.
He went further. Georgiadis publicly accused the Greek European Prosecutor handling the OPEKEPE case, Popi Papandreou, of pursuing the investigation for personal reasons. Specifically the Minister alleged that Papandreou is attempting to pressure the Supreme Court into renewing her term in office. Alternatively, he suggested, she was simply “legally incompetent.”
The Judges Hit Back
The Union of Judges and Prosecutors did not let the remarks pass. In a formal statement, the body reminded the minister that the EPPO, is not merely a creature of domestic Greek law. It is governed by EU Regulation 2017/1939, which carries supranational force, meaning it cannot be abolished by a vote of the Greek parliament, as Georgiadis implied. Its Greek office is staffed by Greek prosecutors who are constitutionally protected to carry out their duties freely, independently, and without fear of political pressure.
On the personal attack against Papandreou, the union was equally direct. Without elaborating on her record, it said her legal expertise, integrity, and experience in significant cases are “known and indisputable.” It then turned to the broader principle: “Trust in justice cannot be à la carte,” the statement read. Those who exercise executive power, it said, are obliged — in both word and deed — to demonstrate that trust, and to refrain from statements that undermine the standing of those who serve it.
The union characterized Georgiadis’ threats regarding the possible abolition of the EPPO as direct interference in judicial work.
