Greek left boss ‘grateful’ for EU prosecutor seeking justice at home

The EU Prosecutor is doing a good job in investigating cases related to the rule of law as Greek citizens mistrust domestic justice and the conservative New Democracy government (EPP), Greece’s main opposition Syriza party (EU Left) leader Stefanos Kasselakis told Euractiv in an interview.

Kasselakis, who replaced former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Syriza’s leadership in September 2023, referred to several cases related to the rule of law where the investigation remains either long unsolved or even allegedly hindered.

He particularly referred to a train crash that killed 57 people, where the victims’ relatives accuse the government of attempting to cover it up to protect politicians involved.

In addition, the leftist leader emphasised the much-discussed wiretapping scandal, which saw politicians, journalists and businessmen having their phones bugged with illegal Predator spyware, as well as an EU investigation on an alleged €2.5 billion scandal related to the Recovery Fund.

Laura Kövesi, the EU prosecutor, has intervened in all these cases and even said authorities are obstructing her investigation into the train accident. The EU Parliament also criticised the government’s handling of these cases in a recent resolution.

But Kövesi was recently attacked by government officials and Greek judges for going beyond her scope.

Watch the full interview below:

“I’m grateful for the European Union, for the European Prosecutor’s Office for investigating these cases”, Kasselakis said, and called on Greece’s government officials to show “humility” instead of attacking Europe.

He added, “we shouldn’t have to go through Brussels to give people a sense of hope that they will find justice and relief”.

“The judicial system in Greece operates with a very slow pace, and the Greek people don’t trust deeply inside them that they can see their last recourse in the court system”, he said, adding that, in general, there is a deep distrust between the people and the government.

“But it is what it is. And the only way to change it is for us to be in government and to implement the huge reforms needed in our country”, he said.

He noted that Brussels has now noticed the reality in Greece, but the “Greek propaganda machine just doesn’t want the Greek people to see all of it”.

“They are working very hard to block the truth from reaching people’s eyes and ears […]Brussels has castigated the Greek government for its treatment of the rule of law, its treatment of the freedom of press”.

According to RSF’s 2024 World Press Freedom Index published on Friday, Greece remains the last EU country with press freedom in a “problematic” situation. [LINK under embargo]

“We really must find a new way for the people to feel like politics works for them, as opposed to this being a transactional relationship where everybody says nothing will change […] we need to be better, and there is a way, but this can’t happen from the top down. It needs to be grassroots from the bottom up”.

‘I strongly believe in the EU project.’

Kasselakis noted that he “strongly” believes in the European project, but there is work to be done, especially when it comes to showing solidarity “in practice”.

He cited as an example the recently adopted EU migration pact, he said it was “disappointing” as mandatory relocation was not introduced.

“Countries in the north cannot turn a blind eye when it comes to pushbacks against these refugees”, he said.

He added that solidarity should also be visible in investments in the south.

“It’s very easy to look down at the Mediterranean countries over the past decade because of the debt burden issues. But at the end of the day, we are in a single currency union, and countries that are in a better financial position ought to invest in those in a worse financial position to enable convergence,” he said.

In what he described as a “huge convergence gap,” Greece ranks second from the bottom when it comes to purchasing power and second from the top in indirect taxes. Greeks also pay some of the most expensive electricity, gasoline, and food prices.

“We are way lower than we were before the financial crisis. Greece does need help from the rest of the EU, and Greeks will work for it. We have some of the longest working hours in this country. So solidarity. That’s the foundation of Europe. I believe in the European project, but we absolutely need solidarity in practice.”

Left, social democrats and greens should come together

He said the projected rise of the far right across the bloc is a “big concern”.

“People need to realise that this election has consequences, and that Europe has been successful because of solidarity over the past several decades”.

“If we give this up to simply resort to a rhetoric of hatred and divisions, that this is just going to hurt us in the long run, if not in the medium run”, he added.

On a national level, the ruling New Democracy party leads all the polls ahead of the elections, but Kasselakis said his party’s results will be “surprising”.

He said the “new Syriza” represents a “modern Left” party which covers “comfortably” the entire space from the centre-left, the left and the greens.

On an EU level, he insisted that left parties, social democrats and green parties, need to “really” come together and form a modern governance message.

“One that shows that there is a way outside of the constraints of austerity, to create high-quality growth, that there is a way to invest in climate adaptation and protect our children”.

He also said Syriza in the process renewing and expanding its base.

“We have done a very good job of opening up our party infrastructure to let fresh talent come in, to digitalise our processes so that people can give us their feedback and get our response out of it […] So I think it’s just a matter of time until, uh, the people, uh, reward us for these, uh, changes we’re making. It’s a new paradigm of politics”, he concluded.

(Sarantis Michalopoulos – Edited by Alice Taylor | Euractiv.com)