PM Says Unaware Of Opposition Phone Tap As Criticism Grows

Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis has claimed that he was unaware of a phone tapping operation against Nikos Androulakis, and MEP and leader of the opposition centre-left PASOK. The scandal that erupted late last week has already claimed the positions of Panagiotis Kontoleon, head of the Greek intelligence services, as well as Grigoris Dimitriadis, the General Secretary of the PM's office and also Mitsotakis' nephew. Journalist Thanasis Koukakis was also subject to tapping via the 'Predator' spyware said the findings of intensive cyber analysis by civil rights group Citizens Lab and the European Parliament.

• In a statement released on 8 August, the PM says “What was done, may have been in accordance with the letter of the law, but it was wrong -- I was not aware of it and obviously I would have never allowed it,”
• On the same day, government spokesman Ioannis Oikonomou speaking to Skai TV stated that the monitoring happened before Androulakis' election as PASOK leader late in 2021, and while legal it was unacceptable for a politician's phone to be monitored.
• Oikonomou also stated that the gov't would not be forced into early elections over the issue. Next election due by July 2023 at the latest. Polls show Mitsotakis' conservative New Democracy leading, but on a downward trajectory and likely short of the support needed to govern as a majority.
• PASOK have recorded a notable recovery in support after several years in the political wilderness. The prospect of a leftist Syriza-PASOK gov't is possible, but it remains to be seen whether the far-left Syriza of former PM Alexis Tsipras could work with the more centrist PASOK in gov't.