A scene of extreme tension unfolded on Friday afternoon in the Greek Parliament plenary session between leader of Course of Freedom Zoe Konstantopoulou and Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis. Shortly after the completion of Parliament’s Ethics Committee session, where the majority recommended lifting her immunity, Ms. Konstantopoulou took to the parliamentary podium denouncing a “fascist and anti-democratic attack” against her during the Ethics Committee session, targeting Parliament Vice-President Giorgos Georgantas and New Democracy MP for the Dodecanese Vasilis Ipsilantis.
Tension in Parliament – Kazamias against Markopoulos: “New Democracy’s chief thug”
The decibel levels rose when the conservative parliamentary spokesman Dimitris Markopoulos accused the Course of Freedom leader of “daily undermining the institutional functioning of Parliament” and rushed to remind everyone of her “dark presidency” in Parliament during the first half of 2015. “We do not tolerate insults from someone who daily mistreated colleagues and employees,” he said characteristically, causing the parliamentary thermometer to hit “red.”
Asking for the floor, Course of Freedom parliamentary spokesman Alexandros Kazamias called Dimitris Markopoulos “New Democracy’s chief thug,” causing the presidency to immediately intervene, asking MPs not to use such characterizations. Subsequently, asking for the floor again, Zoe Konstantopoulou accused the conservative parliamentary spokesman of “slandering and insulting her.”
“Tempers flared” between Georgiadis and Konstantopoulou
However, the episode not only did not end but continued with more intensity as there were references to a former Course of Freedom employee. Ms. Konstantopoulou mentioned that the specific woman was not working after February 2025, emphasizing that she “is making a career as a singer,” that she was in Paros, and that the whole affair is “staged” by New Democracy, Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis, and “para-state mechanisms” to damage her party.
Subsequently, Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis, asking for personal time, launched a fierce attack on Zoe Konstantopoulou, noting that “she surpassed even her worst self” because she claimed money was given to the former employee to make complaints. He even submitted evidence to the record, arguing that tax declarations show Course of Freedom had declared payments of 24,000 euros to Ms. Karakitsou for 2025, while calling on the Labor Inspectorate to complete its investigation.
Konstantopoulou’s attack against Georgiadis – “You are a fascist”
Mr. Georgiadis’s move ignited the tension fuse even more, with Zoe Konstantopoulou calling him a “fascist” and the presidency intervening for the umpteenth time, saying that the specific phrase would not be recorded in the minutes. The Health Minister maintained that Ms. Konstantopoulou’s reference to photos of the former employee in a swimsuit causes him “disgust,” and called on Course of Freedom MP Tzortzia Kefala to defend her relative’s honor.
And while one expected the confrontation to end, Zoe Konstantopoulou attacked Mr. Georgiadis again, connecting the case with her party’s former employee to the Violanta tragedy. She even accused the Health Minister of attempting to “cover up” five deaths, while once again claiming that Mr. Georgiadis is a “denier” of the Holocaust, the Polytechnic deaths, the genocide in Gaza, the Tempe crime, Violanta, and OPEKEPE. The episode ended with Ms. Konstantopoulou visibly irritated, forcefully hitting her seat’s microphone.
