Katerina Moutsatsos has fired back — pointedly — at the claims made by Hope for Democracy party leader Maria Karystianou, publishing a post in which she addresses her work in the Culture sector. As she writes, what matters to her is protecting the truth about the work that was done and the proposals she submitted — a significant portion of which, she notes, never received any attention from the party’s so-called “soldier-cadres.”
“I believe it is unjust that the contribution of people who chose to leave is now being publicly diminished, or that their presence and their work is being presented as though it never existed,” Moutsatsos states, among other things.
Read also: Karystianou on departures from her party: “I will not accept blackmail — we had already sensed the ulterior motive” — Her comment on Avgerinos (Video)
Katerina Moutsatsos’ full post on her departure from Maria Karystianou’s party
“A necessary clarification regarding my participation in ‘Hope for Democracy,’ and above all regarding my work in the Culture sector. I had no intention of making public any matters relating to the internal workings of the party’s ‘working groups’ — and specifically the ‘Culture sector.’ However, since an internal message I sent exclusively within the group upon my departure was leaked… And since references have been made publicly — and continue to be made — that create the impression that my involvement in the political movement was limited to merely a ‘presentation of the movement’ on May 21, 2026, in Thessaloniki, or that ‘those who left did it all for positions,’ for personal exposure, or that they ‘did nothing’ — or whatever else is being said — I feel I owe it to everyone, with full respect, to set the record straight.
During my participation in the political movement, which lasted over two months, I worked systematically on two comprehensive policy proposals:
The first: A programme on Culture and Cultural Heritage, with fully developed positions and proposals covering the protection of monuments and archaeological sites, the public nature of cultural heritage, the role of the Archaeological Service and ODAP, the management and promotion of cultural assets, and the relationship between Culture, society, and development.
The second: A programme on Greek Cinema and audiovisual policy, with specific proposals on the funding of Greek film production, the function and direction of a “New EKKOMMED,” selective funding, production incentives, international co-productions, distribution and outreach, as well as an alternative model for supporting Greek cinematic creativity.
These were not vague ideas or presentation slides. They were the result of many hours of research, study, data analysis, outreach, meetings, and the drafting of concrete policy proposals. These are, after all, issues I have been engaged with for years, and I have spoken publicly about them across all my personal pages and platforms.
As early as June 20, 2026, I had begun submitting specific proposals to the official platform of Hope for Democracy’s Culture sector. Unfortunately, a significant portion of those proposals received no attention from any of the party’s “soldier-cadres.”
Among the work carried out within this context was a particularly important initiative: reaching out to and meeting with representatives of the employees of the Ministry of Culture.
Together with Thanasis Avgerinos, we pursued that specific meeting as early as June — well before the Ministry of Culture’s omnibus bill became a focal point of public debate. The effort to arrange the meeting had therefore begun in a timely manner, at a point when very few people were systematically engaged with the issue.
The meeting that ultimately took place — with Despoina Koutsounba, President of the Unified Association of Ministry of Culture Employees, as well as board members Lioni Dede and Dimitris Koufovassilis — lasted over two hours. It allowed us to gain insight not only into the positions and concerns of those with insider knowledge of the Ministry’s operations, but also into their proposals regarding the planned changes and the consequences they warned those changes could bring. Also present at the meeting — participating online — was Hope for Democracy’s President, Maria Karystianou. This is precisely what I believed the process of building a serious political programme should look like: research, documentation, dialogue with people in the field, and then concrete proposals — not simply a programme “presentation.”
I am not raising all of this to claim credit. I am raising it because there is a significant difference between disagreeing with how a party operates — whether it is truly “bottom-up” and democratic — and publicly insinuating, or outright stating, that this work never existed. Political disagreement is legitimate. Departing, and even criticising that departure, is also legitimate in my view. But no one should assume that because a person ultimately chose to leave, their time, their work, their initiatives, their contacts, and their ideas are retroactively erased.
The message I sent when leaving the Culture group specifically was a message of gratitude toward some of the people I worked with and whom I continue to hold in high regard. It carried no bitterness and no desire for confrontation. I wrote, among other things: “It was my honour to walk alongside truly worthy people — people of vision who fight for high ideals — and I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to contribute, with whatever capabilities and knowledge I had, to this effort.” I still believe this, which is why I find it unjust that the contributions of people who chose to leave are now being publicly diminished, or that their presence and their work is being presented as though it never existed.
In the interest of transparency, I am ready at any moment to make public the two programmes I drafted, so that anyone interested can read them and judge for themselves the scope, content, and seriousness of the work that was submitted. After all, they belong neither to me nor to the Hope for Democracy party. They belong to anyone who might wish to take steps toward putting them into practice.
I have no desire for a personal confrontation with anyone. What I do wish is to protect the truth about the work that was done — and above all, to persist stubbornly in the struggle for Democracy, Freedom, and social emancipation — and of course for Culture… in a country from which even that has been wrested away. These values belong to no individual, no group, and no political movement. They belong to all of us, and it is for them that I will continue to work and to fight.”
Μια οφειλόμενη ενημέρωση για τη συμμετοχή μου στην «Ελπίδα για τη Δημοκρατία», και κυρίως για τη δουλειά μου στον Τομέα Πολιτισμού.
Δεν είχα πρόθεση να δημοσιοποιήσω ζητήματα που αφορούσαν την εσωτερική λειτουργία των «ομάδων εργασίας» της «Ελπίδας για τη Δημοκρατία», και… pic.twitter.com/4I1lKhhlmh
— Katerina Moutsatsos (@katmouts) August 14, 2026
