Greek Ex-Prime Minister Requests Censure Motion Over Alleged Spy Scandal

Alexis Tsipras, Greece's main opposition leader and former prime minister, has called for a censure motion against the government after revealing the names of people who were tapped by the state intelligence unit.

"The last six months, Mitsotakis has been lying about not being aware," Tsipras told lawmakers Wednesday, accusing Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of being responsible for spying on the officials.

Current labor minister Konstantinos Hatzidakis was being tapped from November 2020 to May 2021, when he was energy minister, while the head of armed forces and other military officials were spied on from July 2020 to May 22, according to Tsipras.

"We appreciate the opportunity to have this discussion," Minister of State Georgios Gerapetritis said after the motion request. The parliamentary discussion will start Wednesday and the vote will take place on Friday.

Tsipras's comments came a day after he met with the head of the independent authority for Communication and Privacy. The agency handed Tsipras a letter with the findings of its investigation into who was under electronic surveillance from the state spy unit. The agency also sent the letter, which was classified, to all parliamentary party leaders, as well as to the president of the parliament and the justice minister.

Since the spy scandal in Greece broke in August, Mitsotakis has been under pressure from the opposition. The national intelligence service was revealed to have been spying on Nikos Androulakis, the leader of Greece's opposition socialist Pasok party, as well as on a reporter investigating powerful business figures.

As a result of the scandal, the general secretary of Mitsotakis's office resigned, along with the head of the spy unit at the time. Mitsotakis has admitted that the surveillance was conducted, but he has repeatedly said he wasn't behind it.

Ioannis Oikonomou, the government's spokesman, said on Tuesday that the prime minister and government were not aware of the operations. "No information and no evidence ever came to their knowledge," he said.

Oikonomou also urged judicial authorities to quickly investigate the matter further, while accusing the head of the independent authority for Communication and Privacy of having a suspicious relationship with the opposition.

As the country heads to national elections this spring, the tension between the government and Tsipras’s Syriza party is expected to rise.

The elections will be conducted under a proportional representation system, which makes it very difficult to have a one-party government. If the parties are unable to form a coalition, a new round of elections would need to be held about a month later, under a semi-proportional system that makes it easier to form a government.