Main opposition New Democracy (ND) this week pounced on eyebrow-raising allegations by the up-until-recently head of an asylum service directorate tasked with identifying third country refugees and managing hotspot-related infrastructure in the country.
“It’s time for prosecutors to intervene … What I say is that oversight has been lost; chaos reigns at the moment,” Andreas Ilioupoulos was quoted by the Athens daily “Fileleftheros” as saying.
He cited widespread mismanagement of funds earmarked for managing the refugee/migrant crisis, which erupted in Greece in early 2015, both by relevant Greek state agencies – including the defense ministry – and by the now ubiquitous NGOs financed with EU money.
The retired Greek army lieutenant general called on Greek and European judicial officials and regulatory authorities to commence an urgent investigation.
In response, the relevant Migration Policy Minister, Dimitris Vitsas, vehemently denied the allegations, and warned that “legal action” against Iliopoulos will follow.
In comments carried by the state-run news agency, the veteran leftist lawmaker also claimed that he essentially cashiered the now former head of the directorate on Tuesday – two days before Iliopoulos’ interview in Fileleftheros was published - citing “multiple deficiencies in his exercising his duties.”
Vitsas said he asked for his resignation by Friday, otherwise he would fire him.
On its part, ND called on the leftist-rightist coalition government, which assumed power in January 2015, to provide answers on how 1.6 billion euros doled out by European coffers was managed, as well as which NGOs were funded and the sums they were allocated.
ND also called for a probe over 52 million euros managed by the Greek defense ministry, and if funding is part of an ongoing investigation by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF).
The publisher of Fileleftheros, a senior editor and a political reporter were arrested and detained overnight late last month following a lawsuit by Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos. The latter took advantage of a controversial libel law in the country to file lawsuit over a front-page article that criticized him over his ministry’s alleged mismanagement of EU funds to deal with the refugee crisis.
