Un All-Greek Watergate overwhelms the prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. After the discovery of a dense network of espionage by the secret services that would have kept opposition politicians, officials and journalists under control. In all, we are talking about 14 thousand people. A wiretapping scandal that saw the head of Greek intelligence of Panaghiotis Kontoleon and the Prime Minister's Secretary General, Grigoris Dimitriads resign within minutes (i.e. one of Mitsotakis' top aides, as well as his nephew), calls for further resignations amid revelations of "dark practices" and a spy crisis likened to America's Watergate that spelled the end of Republican President Richard Nixon.
In the country, the scandal is taking on the contours of a great embarrassment for the government, given that on the first day after the elections, on 8 July 2019, Mitsotakis amended the Eyp law and brought it under his direct control. Among the intercepted, Nikos Androulakis, president of Pasok, the opposition party.
Storm over Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis: "I didn't know"
After days of silence, the Greek prime minister – celebrated for years in Europe as the enfant prodige of the conservatives – appeared on TV on Monday 8 August with his tail between his legs, denying any involvement: "I didn't know anything about it", he said, defining the operation of the secret services "formally and legally adequate, but politically unacceptable". Mitsotakis also announced a intelligence reform, with greater control and transparency.
However, the explanations have not convinced the opposition and a large part of public opinion, even if it is still early to understand whether the Greek Watergate will mark the end of the conservative government. We will have to wait for August 22, when Parliament will reopen, interrupting the summer break, precisely to listen to Mitsotakis's reasons, at the request of the former prime minister Alexis Tsipras.
In the meantime, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Themistoklis Demiris, former Ambassador of Greece in Rome, has been called to head the services.
Greek Watergate: What Happened?
About a week Androulakis had reported to the Supreme Court an "attempted" espionage of his mobile phone via malware Predator, created by North Macedonia-based company Cytrox. Spyware gives access to both intercepted phone messages and conversations, can infiltrate cell phones to extract data, or activate a camera or microphone to spy on their owners.
"I never expected the Greek government to spy on me using the darkest practices," said the socialist opposition leader. A similar complaint was then presented to the Supreme Court by two journalists: the financial reporter Thanasis Koukakis and the investigative reporter Stavros Malichudis.
Kontoleon has admitted management "mistakes," said the office of Mitsokatis, whose executive denied buying spying software. Dimitridis, on the other hand, had been accused by investigative websites Reporters United e Inside Story to be involved in the espionage of the two journalists. Dimitriadis has threatened to sue Reporters United and the leftist newspaper Efsyn if they do not remove articles written about it.
