EU Parliament sees Greek rule of law at risk
The European Parliament has adopted a resolution raising the alarm about the "worrying" state of the rule of law in Greece. Among other things it criticises the wiretapping of political opponents, restrictions on press freedom, corruption and systematic pushbacks of migrants. The non-binding text calls on the EU Commission to initiate investigations.
Play it down or take it seriously
Columnist Xenia Kounalaki writes in the conservative Kathimerini:
“The government has two options. Either to pretend that the resolution is no big deal by discrediting its value, questioning the intentions of those who voted for it, and presenting growth rates and other more favorable data, or to take it seriously, considering that it would be better, especially in view of the upcoming European Parliament elections, not to be in the same category as Hungary, a country synonymous with European isolation.”
Getting complicated for Mitsotakis
Investigative journalist Kostas Vaxevanis writes in Documento:
“Manfred Weber, president of the European People’s Party, EPP group leader in the European Parliament and a friend of Mitsotakis, tried to pass an alternative wording to the condemning resolution, but he couldn’t even convince his own MEPs. ... Mitsotakis hadn’t expected such an international outcry. He thought he could prevent exposure abroad by keeping the information in Greece. But things have reached the level of the European institutions and will become even more complicated for him because the European Public Prosecutor’s Office could get involved in many of the cases.”
