Farmers across Greece stage road blockades over unpaid subsidies, sending messages to the government while tensions rise with authorities and new protests are planned nationwide

Former agriculture minister Makis Voridis told Parliament’s investigative committee he never intervened in subsidy cases, rejecting claims of pressure, favoritism, while accusing the opposition of a political witch hunt as the OPEKEPE inquiry deepens

Former minister Lefteris Avgenakis denied wrongdoing before Parliament’s OPEKEPE inquiry, as the government seeks to restore credibility in Greece’s farm subsidy agency and regain EU trust

The European Commission has sent a warning letter to Greece, demanding a new framework for farm subsidy payments by November 4 or risk suspension of €600 million in EU agricultural funds.

The number of suspects held in pre-trial detention has risen to eight as judicial questioning continues in Greece’s OPEKEPE subsidy fraud case involving an alleged network accused of defrauding millions in EU farm subsidies through Greece’s OPEKEPE agency

After overnight questioning in Thessaloniki, 34 of the 37 suspects in the major OPEKEPE subsidy fraud case were transferred to Athens under tight police escort.

The suspect has been repeatedly identified as "frappes", referring to the popular ice coffee

Specifically, European Anti-Fraud Office (Olaf) inspectors reportedly scrutinized subsidy and compensation payments over the 2014-2025 period

Ex-president Grigoris Varras has accused political and corporate figures of pressuring him to resign, while new testimonies and delays in hearings show the inquiry is still unfolding

European Chief Prosecutor Laura Kövesi highlighted corruption challenges, constitutional barriers, and Greece’s role in EU fraud cases during her Athens press conference. She insisted the European Public Prosecutor’s Office 'is here to stay'

On Thursday Laura Kovesi is scheduled to hold a press conference to present results of EPPO investigations in Greece

A landmark trial in Crete has opened with 105 defendants accused of using fake leases and forged documents to claim EU farm subsidies worth thousands of euros from the scandal hit OPEKEPE between 2019 and 2023

The relevant DG AGRI warns of suspension of payments and gives a deadline of Oct. 2 for the submission of a new framework for agriculture subsidies

The judicial freeze is accompanied by referral to the European prosecutor's office of a high-profile case file on results of an investigation into more than one million euros of fraudulently doled out between 2019-24

Authorities are reportedly ready to freeze some 70 bank accounts and safe deposit boxes of 10 suspects, who, in total, received roughly three million euros in fraudulently approved subsidies

The European Commission has already ordered Greece to forfeit nearly €400 million in funding for 2026 — over 20 percent of the direct payments it was due to receive. In response, the government pledged to shut down OPEKEPE by the end of 2026

The development was followed by the resignation of a ND whose name has been prominently linked over the recent period to the OPEKEPE subsidies scandal

He also dismissed Ankara's annoyance with the declaration of a marine park in the Greek territorial waters in the southern Aegean, saying Athens doesn't discuss issues of sovereignty

The political atmosphere has grown increasingly tense following the release of recorded conversations implicating officials in clientelist practices.

He referred to a probe by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office pointing to misuse and outright fraud by the now disbanded Greek Payment Authority of Common Agricultural Policy