International news outlet Politico focuses on the recently surfaced “Blue Skies affair,” which led to opposition parties unleashing harsh criticism against the ruling party of New Democracy (ND) and PM Mitsotakis, using the title “Financing scandal rocks Greece’s ruling party” in its feature article.
Blue Skies is a subsidiary of the much more well-known communications firm V+O, which represents some of the largest businesses in Greece. The story was first brought to light by investigations published by Inside Story and Documento, with in.gr later presenting additional evidence about what is described as a complex and tangled web—leaving Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s government, once again, cornered.
Politico reports that opposition parties are demanding an investigation into New Democracy’s connections with the aforementioned company. Questions about the role of the PR firm focus on several senior members of the ruling party and close associates of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, including Thanasis Bakolas, the outgoing Secretary General of the European People’s Party, the pan-European umbrella group of center-right parties.
Greece’s opposition parties are demanding an investigation into the government’s ties to a politically connected communications company.https://t.co/2jdq9Ed6bd
— POLITICOEurope (@POLITICOEurope) May 1, 2025
The publication goes on to detail the activities of Blue Skies, which it describes as a “little-known company” now at the center of a political storm. It was founded by Thomas Varvitsiotis—son and brother of former New Democracy ministers—and Giannis Olympios. The company is a spin-off of V+O, which was founded in 2003 with V+O as a shareholder and Varvitsiotis and Olympios on its board. At the time, Blue Skies shared the same headquarters as V+O, Politico notes.
The main allegation from the opposition is that Blue Skies employed high-ranking New Democracy officials, including Konstantinos Kyranakis, serving as the current Alternate Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, and operated with undisclosed political funding. Furthermore, about 15 of its employees allegedly posted content on social media in support of Mitsotakis’s interests, including attacks on the families of the victims of Greece’s deadliest rail disaster in 2023, according to the report.
As Politico reports, “The main opposition center-left Pasok party is demanding “answers about the activities of this company and the links between New Democracy, a propaganda machine, and private companies, between which, according to publications, black political money seems to be produced and channelled. After so many revelations, we expect the immediate intervention of the competent judicial authorities,” the party said in a statement on Tuesday”.
The government denies any connection with the company. Kyranakis confirmed on a local TV channel that he was employed at Blue Skies from 2016 to 2019, during the period when he also served as the party’s deputy spokesperson. He claimed that he was “a regular employee who paid taxes normally.” Government officials did not respond to a request for comment regarding another party official named Roussetou.
Politico notes that representatives of Blue Skies argued the criticism regarding indirect funding from political parties “does not reflect reality.”
They stated, “The truth is that, in the past, many of our clients hired individuals with an understanding of politics and the political world to help us navigate the complex waters of crises. This is a common market practice followed by our counterparts both in Greece and internationally. This reality has been distorted,” they claimed.
