A new case file involving alleged illegal agricultural subsidies connected to the OPEKEPE farm subsidy scandal has been forwarded to the Greek Parliament by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO). The request includes lifting immunity for 11 New Democracy MPs to investigate their potential involvement in the case. European Chief Prosecutor Laura Kövesi has asked the Greek Parliament to authorise the continuation of the investigation.
According to reports, the MPs are being investigated for alleged interference in the management and allocation of agricultural subsidies. These alleged interventions involve communications with officials or other actors connected to OPEKEPE, reportedly aimed at facilitating or obtaining information about specific cases involving farmers or groups of farmers. Examples cited include efforts to expedite procedures or support the acceptance of applications. The same information indicates that there is no reference to financial or other personal benefits for the MPs, nor to encouragement of illegal actions.
Sources indicate that, for two MPs who previously held government roles, recorded conversations are seen as “particularly aggravating at a political and criminal level.” However, for many involved, the references are described as more indirect. In these instances, mentions come from third-party conversations that refer to supposed political “support” or influence, without direct evidence of the MPs’ intervention.
The individuals named include former Minister of Rural Development Spilios Livanos and former Deputy Minister Fotini Arabatzi, whose cases fall under the legal framework governing ministerial responsibility. The request for lifting immunity applies to current MPs, including several serving ministers and deputy ministers.
The case concerns the period 2021-2022, during Dimitris Mellas’s presidency at OPEKEPE. The Internal Affairs Service of the Hellenic Police had previously lifted telephone confidentiality for the individuals under investigation. Over the past six months, the Financial Prosecutor’s Office analysed the material obtained and compiled a report, which it forwarded to EPPO. If parliamentary immunity is lifted, the EPPO is expected to initiate a preliminary investigation.
All individuals concerned are:
Former minister and deputy minister (procedure under the law on ministerial responsibility)
– Spilios Livanos – MP for Aetolia-Acarnania, former Minister of Rural Development and Food (January 2021 – February 2022)
– Fotini Arabatzi – MP for Serres, former Deputy Minister of Rural Development and Food (July 2019 – January 2021)
Serving MPs (request for lifting of immunity)
– Katerina Papakosta (current MP)
– Konstantinos Achilleas Karamanlis (current MP)
– Ioannis Kefalogiannis (Minister for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection)
– Panagiotis Mitarakis (current MP)
– Konstantinos Tsiaras (current Minister of Rural Development and Food)
– Konstantinos Skrekas (former minister, current Secretary of New Democracy)
– Dimitrios Vartzopoulos (current Deputy Minister of Health)
– Maximos Senetakis (current MP)
– Vasileios Vassiliadis (current MP)
– Christos Boukoros (current MP)
– Theofilos Leontaridis (current MP)
Notably, Tsiaras, Vartzopoulos and Kefalogiannis, who currently serve as ministers and deputy ministers, are not subject to the procedure under Article 86 on ministerial responsibility, as during the period under examination (reportedly 2021), they were not serving in ministerial office. Similarly, other individuals, such as Kostas Karamanlis, held ministerial positions at the time, but in portfolios not related to the Ministry of Rural Development and Food.
