PM Mitsotakis to Parliament: None of our initiatives must undermine the work done by EYP
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis concluded by accusing SYRIZA and PASOK of instrumentalising a real issue to set up a scene of alleged political crisis, stressing that the assertion that he had personally ordered the surveillance of Androulakis’ phone was “a dishonest and immoral lie”. ANA – MPA/ ALEXANDROS VLACHOS
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
“We responded rapidly to the demand to open Parliament early in the hope that there will be solutions in the operation of state structures.
I hope the discussion will be held in a climate of national responsibility and we will seek convergences,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Friday, beginning an off-the-agenda debate in Parliament on revelations that the phones of politicians and journalists have been placed under surveillance by the national intelligence service EYP.
The debate, at the level of political party leaders, was requested by main opposition SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance leader Alexis Tsipras.
Mitsotakis talked of “collective mistakes” of all governments that have to be addressed collectively, noting that he had not hesitated to admit, on learning of the legal intrusion in Nikos Androulakis phone, “that this was a mistake”. He pointed out that this was followed by the replacement of the officials involved at EYP and in the prime minister’s office and by an act of legislative content to improve the functioning of EYP, as well as the government’s agreement to bring the issue before the plenary, the transparency committee and to set up a parliamentary investigation.
“None of our initiatives must undermine the important national work done by EYP,” he stressed, noting that this must improve and not stall its activities, since it was EYP’s intelligence that had helped Greece be prepared against a mass invasion by migrants at Evros in 2020.
It was imperative that nothing compromised the action of a “valuable arm of the state” and that a “misstep does not paralyse an important state agency,” the prime minister added, noting that the secret services “operate along a fine line”.
“We have to balance between freedom and security. In many EU countries there are indications and proof that surveillance software operates,” Mitsotakis said, adding that this was also an issue in Spain, and that he had information that he had personally been the target of surveillance when in the opposition.
“Many abroad would like Greece to be unprotected and weak,” the prime minister noted, while he was careful to distinguish between illegal surveillance software and legal surveillance, saying there were explicit assurances that Greek authorities do not use the former.
The prime minister pointed out that the government had restored the requirement for a signature by a second public prosecutor for legal surveillance, originally removed by SYRIZA, when the Nikos Androulakis affair became public, noting that there was a “legal vacuum” in this case.
“EYP should have had the right filters and displayed the necessary reflexes. For this reason, I spoke of a politically unacceptable action…” Mitsotakis said, while also referring to the inevitable difficulties involved in a public discussion of the activities of the secret services, which must necessarily remain secret and confidential.
“From the first, the government called on the interested party to inform him and agreed to initiate all parliamentary processes, while justice has also been mobilised at the most senior level. We have an obligation to assist the work of the prosecutor and not to target him. If Mr. Androulakis insists on doubting the legal surveillance I urge him to resort to the Greek or European courts,” Mitsotakis said.
While public figures need to be protected, neither must they be privileged and feel that they have complete immunity, the prime minister noted, citing the case of Golden Dawn as an example.
“Greece is a modern, European democracy and for this reason has the power to locate and cover its weaknesses with changes…I have already announced four areas where the government will make changes, adding checks and balances for legal surveillance without undermining its work,” the prime minister added.
He said a parliamentary committee will investigate all that happened but its work will be incomplete unless it makes proposals on how to improve what was wrong.
He concluded by accusing SYRIZA and PASOK of instrumentalising a real issue to set up a scene of alleged political crisis, stressing that the assertion that he had personally ordered the surveillance of Androulakis’ phone was “a dishonest and immoral lie”.
“You are generously providing arguments to those who want Greece to be weak,” Mitsotakis said, adding that the alignment of SYRIZA with PASOK “is absolute and for this reason many friends of PASOK are already wondering whether by voting Androulakis they are actually voting for Tsipras.”
Source: ΑΝΑ – ΜPA
Ακολουθήστε τη HELLAS JOURNAL στη NEWS GOOGLE