Further strengthening the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Athens was reportedly the primary request of top EU prosecutor Laura Kovesi on Wednesday during her meeting in the Greek capital with Justice Minister Giorgos Floridis and ministry officials.
In turn, Floridis said most of the requests to strengthen the EPPO office in Athens have been taken, with the intent to fulfil the rest.
Kovesi, whose visit was widely covered in the local media, also touched on the constitutional provision preventing the EPPO from investigating political office-holders.
Sources later claimed that Floridis said the issue of revising the specific constitutional article (no 86) will come within an upcoming constitutional revision to be announced by the prime minister.
Earlier, the high-ranking Romanian jurist and prosecutor met with the head of Greece’s independent tax bureau (AAD), Giorgos Pitsilis, Economy and Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis and Citizen’s Protection Minister Michalis Chrisochoidis, among others.
Meeting with Supreme Court Prosecutor
Kovesi is also scheduled to meet with the top prosecutor of Greece’s Supreme Court, with reports indicating that she will raise the issue which judicial body will decide on the renewal of terms for Greek prosecutors serving at EPPO branch in Athens.
Currently, Greek law gives members of a supreme judicial council of civil and criminal justice the responsibility for
the promotion and appointment of top prosecutors and judges, which is chaired by the president of the Supreme Court, the same court’s top prosecutor and high-ranking justices.
The terms of prosecutors currently serving at the EPPO national office are nearing their end.
On Thursday, she’s scheduled to hold a press conference to present results of EPPO investigations into an extensive corruption ring involving customs services around Europe, as well as to field press questions on high-profile cases under scrutiny in Greece, such as the OPEKEPE farm subsidies scandal, the Tempi rail collision probe and others.
