A written question to the European Commission regarding potential illegal surveillance of European officials through their communications with Greek counterparts or during the participation of monitored Greek officials in European institutions, was submitted by PASOK MEPs, Yiannis Maniatis, Sakis Arnaoutoglou, Nikos Papandreou and Nikolas Farantouris.
Read: PASOK MEPs: Demand Commission intervention over Tzavellas case dismissal and rule of law in Greece
PASOK MEPs: The wiretapping scandal has plagued the country since 2020
In their question, the PASOK MEPs note among other things that “the wiretapping scandal has plagued the country since 2020, with illegal surveillance of Greek politicians, military personnel, journalists, businessmen and judicial officials through EYP or the illegal Predator software”. They then state that “the surveillance was allegedly carried out for ‘national security reasons’, however these have not been disclosed, despite the Council of State decision that ruled the prohibition of informing those affected as unconstitutional”.
“The surveillance of Greek ministers, senior military officers and other officials leaves open the possibility that their conversations with European counterparts may have also been monitored, both at bilateral level and in meetings of EU institutional bodies,” the MEPs add.
The two critical questions to the European Commission
The MEPs pose two critical questions to the European Commission:
“1. Will it investigate whether European officials have fallen victim to surveillance due to their communications with Greek ministers, military personnel or other officials who were being monitored by EYP or through Predator?
- Does it intend to request data from Greek authorities and contribute to the full clarification of the wiretapping scandal in Greece in order to investigate this possibility?”.
In their statement, the PASOK MEPs emphasize that “the wiretapping scandal does not only concern Greece. The potential illegal surveillance of European officials, through their communications with Greek counterparts, raises serious issues of European security, trust and personal data protection”.
“We demand immediate and thorough investigation by the European Commission, as this case threatens the very European rule of law. We will continue to closely monitor the issue, both at national and European level, until the full revelation of the truth and the restoration of the rule of law,” they characteristically stress.
The full text of the PASOK Eurogroup question follows:
Subject: Potential illegal surveillance of European officials through surveillance of their Greek counterparts
The wiretapping scandal has plagued the Greek political and social scene since 2020 with the surveillance of Greek politicians, military personnel, journalists, businessmen, judicial officials, state functionaries and other persons through the EYP system or using the illegal Predator software. Indeed, surveillance by EYP allegedly took place for “national security reasons”, which have not been disclosed, despite the Council of State decision that ruled as unconstitutional the total and complete prohibition of informing affected persons about their completed surveillance.
Beyond, however, the critical questions that remain open within the country, the surveillance of Greek ministers, senior military officers and other officials, leaves open the possibility that their conversations with other European ministers, senior military officers and officials were being monitored, both within the framework of bilateral contacts (e.g. telephone communications or meetings) and within the framework of their participation in meetings of EU institutional bodies and organs (e.g. EU Council of Ministers meetings, EU Military Committee meetings).
The Commission is asked:
- Will it investigate whether European officials have fallen victim to surveillance due to their communications with Greek ministers, military personnel or other officials who were being monitored by EYP or through Predator?
- Does it intend to request data from Greek authorities and contribute to the full clarification of the wiretapping scandal in Greece in order to investigate this possibility?
