Under pressure over EU subsidies fraud, Mitsotakis admits “failure”

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis admitted “failure” into the scandal and fraud via OPEKEPE, the Greek authority for the responsible for the distribution of EU subsidies to farmers and breeders.

“It turns out, the chronic weaknesses of OPEKEPE enabled clientele behavior expressed as favors. Unfortunately, including by our own party. Significant efforts for a clean up were made but, let us be honest: we failed. The dialogues now coming to light cause indignation and outrage,” the prime minister said in a post on social media on Sunday.

The time has come to “cleanse the rot”, he added, noting that the government’s decision to abolish OPEKEPE and transfer its operations to AADE was in aid of this. Mitsotakis also made it clear that anyone shown to have received European funds to which they were not entitled will be asked to return them.

“With respect to the political behaviors, I have only one thing to say: if we want to truly be a European democracy, we cannot tolerate practices that are reminiscent or appear to be reminiscent of transactions for a few votes. This concerns all of politics, which must at last say no to old-style partisanship,” the PM underlined.

OPEKEPE FRAUD 

Mitsotakis has come under immense pressure not only by the opposition parties but also a part of his own New Democracy lawmakers who see how a part of their colleagues including a few government ministers, forced to resign last Friday, put their fingers deep in the EU honey distributing the agricultural aid among themselves, their friends and their friends, relatives, local party officials and voters mainly in Crete.

EU FINE

The EU is to impose a fine of over 410 million euros to Greece, while cuts in the funding are not excluded in the near future, possibly starting in 2025.

Initial statements by the Agricultural Minister Kostas Tsiaras that the fine will be paid by the budget, that is by taxpayer money, triggered a storm of outrage in the political landscape, the society and social media.

Both PM Mitsotakis as well as deputy PM Kostis Hadzidakis reassured the public on Monday that “the government will demand the return of all unjustified subsidy payments.”

How will this be possible? The money reportedly was transferred to over 100,000 tax numbers (AFM). The majority of the owners would received 1,000 to 2,000 euros to keep their mouth shut, while the rest of the subsidy sometimes of one million euros would land in the pockets of those involved in the fraud.

One specific AFM is said to have received a total of 19.6 million euros in EU aid. According to officially not verified media information that specific AFM was …fake or belonged to a deceased person in Ilia, Peloponnese. The largest part of the subsidy fraud would land as kickback to those who facilitated the aid for 250,000 registered acres of pasture land.

The scandal, the third that hits New Democracy after the Novartis and the illegal phone tapping, and is much to big to be overcome with a “damage control” strategy that the ruling party has launched on Monday.

Opposition parties demand early elections and they are not convinced that Mitsotakis was not aware of the OPEKEPE fraud especially after six years in power and a poweful state mechanism.

In statements at the cabinet meeting earlier on Monday, PM Mitsotakis announced that “a special task force is being set up for OPEKEPE, for the revovery of the fake subsidies.”

Will this save the reputation of Mitsotakis as capable Premier? Hardly…

Meanwhile, the European prosecutor keeps digging into the OPEKEPE fraud.