Mitsotakis admits ‘mistake,’ defends EYP record

Conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Friday again admitted that the surveillance by Greece’s secret service of Nikos Androulakis, leader of the PASOK opposition party and an MEP, was a “mistake,” while however defending the sensitive role of the agency and rejecting calls for a snap vote following the case.

Addressing the Parliament’s Committee on Institutions and Transparency over case, Mitsotakis defended the overall record of the National Intelligence Service (EYP) in defending Greece’s national security and stressed that he has taken meaningful steps to reform the agency in a more accountable and transparent direction.

Mitsotakis reminded lawmakers that he had changed the head of the EYP – an appointment approved by a parliamentary committee – following the revelations and that he had agreed to the formation of a committee of inquiry into case.

“A single mistake must not annul all of EYP’s work,” he said.  

Mitsotakis, who has said he had no knowledge Androulakis was under survellance, said it is up to his socialist rival to take legal action if he deems that the wiretapping was unlawful. 

However, he denied any connection between the nation’s intelligence service and the use of Predator spyware. 

Androulakis earlier this year said he had been informed by the European Parliament of an attempt to bug his phone with the surveillance software, which is developed by Cytrox, a Europe-based surveillance company.

In the same speech, the New Democracy prime minister also rejected opposition calls for an early election, instead of at the end of the administration’s four-year term next year.

“I will shoulder the cost of guiding the country to a safe haven. I will not run away; I will not shirk the responsibility entrusted to me by the people. We will get through this difficult winter together. And at the end of the four-year term, we will compete against each other,” he said.