The immunity lifts concern the following ND members of parliament: Katerina Papakosta, Kostas Ach. Karamanlis, Giannis Kefalogiannis, Notis Mitarakis, Kostas Tsiaras, Kostas Skrekas, Dimitris Vartzopulos, Maximos Senetakis, Lakis Vasileiadis, Christos Boukoros, Theofilos Leontaridis, Charalampos Athanassiou, and Tasos Chatzivassileiou.

Detailed Voting Results

• Katerina Papakosta: 288 voted, 287 in favor, 1 against
• Kostas Ach. Karamanlis: 286 in favor, 2 against
• Kefalogiannis: 286 in favor, 2 against
• Mitarakis: 286 in favor, 2 against
• Tsiaras: 287 voted, 285 in favor, 2 against
• Skrekas: 288 voted, 286 in favor, 2 against
• Vartzopulos: 286 in favor, 2 against
• Senetakis: 286 in favor, 2 against
• Vasileiadis: 286 in favor, 2 against
• Boukorors: 286 in favor, 2 against
• Leontaridis: 286 in favor, 2 against
• Athanassiou: 285 in favor, 2 against, 1 present
• Chatzivassileiou: 286 in favor, 2 against

Statements by Parliamentary Spokespersons

ND parliamentary spokesperson Dimitris Markopoulos closed the debate by saying:

“It is our democratic obligation to respect the wish of our fellow MPs to have their immunities lifted, so that they may prove their innocence with the evidence they hold before Greek justice. We must not deprive them of this right, but give them the opportunity to be judged as they should be judged before Greek society.”

He pushed back against those who “so easily speak of governments of the indicted,” citing past immunity-lifting decisions involving MPs from other parties — for offenses including repeated threats, complicity in false certifications to secure thousands of euros, near-criminal misconduct, suspicious procurement tenders, bribery allegations, impersonation, breach of duty in direct contract awards, embezzlement causing losses exceeding €460,000, labor law violations, drug-related cases, and serious disruption of court proceedings. “We therefore accept no lessons from anyone and demand respect,” he said, adding that the 13 MPs had made a difficult but correct decision by choosing to face the charges head-on.

PASOK parliamentary spokesperson Panagiotis Doudonis commented: “In today’s debate we heard a combative defense of MPs’ ‘interventions’ — what one might call ‘favors for constituents.’ One could title it ‘I sinned for my voter.'” He stressed that the lifting of immunity is mandatory under the most recent constitutional revision, except where parliamentary activity or political action is concerned, and that allegedly illegal favors fall under neither category. “We must be clear on this — one cannot claim protection under Article 62. Otherwise, we would have to say that clientelism is a constitutionally protected right.”

SYRIZA parliamentary spokesperson Christos Giannoulis referenced the government’s handling of major scandals, including Tempi and OPEКEPE: “You refused even to investigate responsibilities, protecting political figures and applauding those who should have been held accountable.” He argued that the management of EU funds and the creation of clientelist networks are directly linked to political outcomes, referring to “opacity, squandering of public money, and a party machine built on dependencies.”

KKE parliamentary spokesperson Nikos Karathanassopoulos dismissed the MPs’ statements as self-serving: “We watched a series of positions of an altruistic character from New Democracy MPs — their halos were missing, while they are steeped, body and soul, in implementing anti-popular policies that impoverish people.” He described the scandal as “yet another episode of cover-up” and argued that clientelism “has always been and will remain not a simple bureaucratic convenience, but a mechanism of co-optation and entrapment.” He also held the EU itself partly responsible for such scandals, describing it as “a European Union of lobbies and multinationals.”

New Left parliamentary spokesperson Nasos Iliopoulos said his party feels obliged to defend the EPPO, noting that some within ND have been systematically attacking it — including, he claimed, Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis. He also submitted for the record a social media repost by Makarios Lazaridis referring to a “Kovesi gang.” Alluding to another controversy, he quipped: “Someone is indeed blackmailing you — but it’s not the EPPO. It’s the man whose name Kyriakos Mitsotakis couldn’t remember — whether it was Dylan or Dilyan; thankfully he didn’t call him Bob Marley.” He also noted that the government refuses to reinstate Ms. Tycheropoulos, “the only person who actually pursued wrongdoers, unlike those who were stuffing in tax IDs and remain comfortably in their posts.”

“Niki” party parliamentary spokesperson Spyros Tsironis argued that “from the very first moment the OPEКEPE ‘scandal’ broke, the government played one game only: protecting its ministers and, through them, the Maximos Mansion — those who bear the greatest political responsibility, while the criminal dimension will be decided by justice.” He called it inconceivable that the Prime Minister was unaware, and described the illegal subsidy scheme as “a system of clientelist vote-buying and illegal enrichment” — one, he suggested, that went far beyond just the direct beneficiaries. OPEКEPE, he concluded, “was a powerful tool used to keep the government and the Prime Minister in power.”