German Newspaper TAZ: The European Parliament resolution is a strong slap in the face for Mitsotakis.
With the title “A resounding slap in the face for Athens”, the German newspaper TAZ presents the European Parliament’s resolution on the deterioration of the rule of law and press freedom in Greece. The article is accompanied by a photo of the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who is shown looking… surprised.
At the same time, the newspaper points out that the “European Parliament warns Greece and its government of undemocratic tendencies”, noting that it could have economic consequences.
In the report Taz refers to the organization “Transparency International” which ranks countries worldwide according to the degree of corruption in each of them and “placed Greece in 59th place among 180 countries and 24th among the 27 EU member states.”
It also notes that on the issue of press freedom, the relevant list of Reporters Without Borders “ranks Greece in an embarrassing 107th place – the worst performance in the EU. Before Mitsotakis took over, Greece was in 65th place, having thus fallen 42 places in four years”.
For the first time since the dictatorship
“For the first time since the end of the colonels’ dictatorship in the summer of 1974, the European Parliament has officially condemned Greece, a member of the EU, in a resolution
The resolution expresses MEPs’ concern about developments in Greece that threaten the rule of law, freedom of the press, and fundamental individual rights.
The European Commission was called on to take appropriate measures to put the EU member state back on the path of transparency, press freedom, and the rule of law. Among other things, the European Commission was asked to ‘reconsider’ the disbursement of EU funds to Athens,” TAZ reported.
It also notes that from 2021 and until 2027, European funds to Greece represent 4% of its GDP. For Mitsotakis and his government, “this shower of money is a blessing.” But now “the European Parliament is calling on the European Commission to check whether pressure could be put on Greece in the way it was put on Poland and Hungary because of the flawed rule of law.”
Beyond that, “an indication of how bad the situation of freedom of the press in Greece is can be found by looking at yesterday’s (Thursday, 8 February) editions of the Greek press: the majority of the media remained silent on the European Parliament’s condemnation of Greece”.
