Probe into slush fund claims to focus on state secrets breach

A probe ordered by an Athens prosecutor on Friday into a media report claiming that the Foreign Ministry paid out an alleged 1 million euros from a slush fund is intended to focus on whether the information contained in the report was the result of a breach of state secrets, it has emerged.

The probe was ordered after a report on a Greek news website claimed to have evidence of the Foreign Ministry paying money to media outlets in Albania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, as well as to Greek Orthodox churches abroad.

It cited a document that was presented to Parliament on October 10 on the ministry's “secret funds.”