A report alleging that Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis had a secret dinner with PASOK figures Anna Diamantopoulou and Manolis Christodoulakis at a businessman’s home — purportedly to discuss coalition government scenarios — has triggered a fierce political backlash. All three individuals named in the report issued categorical denials, calling the claims false, while the government also intervened and legal action was announced.
Gerapetritis: “Completely false report — doctored photo generated by artificial intelligence”
Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis described the report as “absolutely false” and a product of pure fabrication. In his statement, he said the report was accompanied by a “doctored photo, an AI-generated product” depicting the three as dining together, and included “detailed accounts of a conversation between us that never took place.” He stated that he had never held a private meeting with Anna Diamantopoulou and Manolis Christodoulakis, and expressed confidence that they would issue similar denials.
He also accused the newspaper of failing to seek his comment before publication, calling it a violation of “every basic principle of journalistic ethics.” He further argued that the report is part of a pattern of “other baseless front-page stories” that, in his view, are personally targeting him. Gerapetritis described the situation as “personal targeting” of himself, warning that the report is causing “serious disruption to the political system,” and demanded that the newspaper issue “a full and immediate retraction.”
Diamantopoulou: “Extremely false and defamatory”
Anna Diamantopoulou also issued a categorical denial, describing the report as “extremely false and defamatory.” She noted that the article referred to an alleged dinner centered on a so-called “coalition of statute of limitations,” and called on the newspaper Estia to immediately issue a denial, retraction, and public apology. She made clear that failing to do so, she reserves the right to pursue all legal remedies available to her, stressing that she will not be intimidated by such attacks and will continue, as she put it, “with dignity” her fight for political change and accountability.
Christodoulakis serves legal notice
Manolis Christodoulakis announced that he has served a formal legal notice to the website radar.gr over what he called “the absolutely false, unfounded, defamatory and personally offensive report” headlined: “Exclusive: Christodoulakis, Diamantopoulou and a ‘blue’ powerbroker at the home of a well-known businessman…” with the subtitle: “The behind-the-scenes maneuvering, intense market pressure to avoid a governance vacuum, and the great dilemma in the face of PASOK’s official ban on cooperating with the right.”
Marinakis: “False from beginning to end”
Government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis also weighed in with a strongly worded statement, calling the report “false, from beginning to end.” In his post, he noted that the article claimed Giorgos Gerapetritis attended a dinner at a businessman’s residence alongside Anna Diamantopoulou and Manolis Christodoulakis, and that the accompanying photograph was “clearly an AI-generated product.” He remarked pointedly: “Every time we say we’ve seen it all — until the next hit.”
The government spokesperson linked the incident to a broader campaign of disinformation and fake news, referencing several cases that have dominated public debate. According to him, “the thread connecting those who spread lies on national issues, the ‘lumber merchants,’ those who ‘mourned’ an allegedly dead girl at the Evros border, those who cut and splice responses to suit their agenda, the TV-judges and the populists is now plain to see — and dangerous.”
Marinakis argued that the aim of these practices is “to mislead public opinion, cultivate anger, and who knows what else,” and stressed that tackling fake news, online character assassination, the distortion of statements, and the targeting of individuals is “a matter of democratic survival.” He concluded by calling on citizens, political parties, and institutions to help build “barriers” against toxicity, noting that freedom of expression and freedom of the press cannot be exploited to serve other agendas.
