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 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

A preliminary investigation by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office is underway into €2.5 million in subsidies allegedly received by Greek politician Kalliopi Semertzidou and her family, with anti-money laundering authorities also involved in the probe

Two certification agencies face €56,000 in penalties for approving non-compliant organic products as Greece tackles a wider farming scandal.

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

Both the government and the opposition have resorted to extreme name-calling and tit-for-tat accusations, with little regard for the facts of the issues at hand

Last Friday, August 1, farmers gathered outside OPEKEPE’s regional offices in Thessaloniki to demand answers

In 2025, the prime minister stressed that Greece no longer needs scandals but demands truth, even if it exposes ongoing dysfunctions.

The farming subsidy scandal, which has raised serious concerns about the mismanagement of EU funds, has sparked renewed political and public scrutiny over the handling of European resources in Greece.

Traveling from regions of Thessaly, Macedonia, and Central Greece, the demonstrators arrived armed with banners, demanding a direct meeting with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Farmers are planning to gather at 11 a.m. on the old Athens–Thessaloniki national road while presence of tractors and other vehicles is expected to cause significant disruption in the area

The mobilization was sparked by growing frustration over the government’s handling of agricultural issues, particularly concerns related to a scandal involving OPEKEPE

Opposition calls for a parliamentary inquiry. The administration weighs up the problem under enormous pressure over the OPEKEPE affair

An admission of failure and the tip of the iceberg for the government’s travails

“The state has proven inadequate in addressing the chronic dysfunctions of OPEKEPE,” Mitsotakis said in his opening remarks

Long before the tragic Tempi railway accident in 2023 thrust it into the public eye, she had already begun investigating Contract 717, alleging mismanagement and delays.

As if handing out subsidies to creatures like that wasn’t bad enough, they were stealing them, too

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

Plevris’s return to the cabinet signals a shift toward a more right-leaning political stance by Athens, at a time when the government is facing mounting political pressure and internal instability.