The Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has appointed Margarítis Schinás, former Vice-President of the European Commission, to the post of Minister for Rural Development and Food, in the midst of a political storm linked to the European agricultural subsidies scandal (see EUROPE 13841/20).
This appointment, which became official on 4 April, comes after the resignation of Agriculture Minister Kostas Tsiaras as part of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) investigation into suspicions of cronyism and misuse of EU agricultural funds. Eleven MPs from the ruling New Democracy party are the subject of a request to waive their parliamentary immunity.
By choosing Mr Schinás, former head of the Commission’s Promotion of our European Way of Life (from 2019 to 2024), the head of the Greek government intends to restore the country’s credibility with the European institutions. Mr Mitsotakis called for a swift resolution to the matter, while ruling out the holding of early elections before the ballot scheduled for 2027.
Giannis Kefalogiannis, Minister of Civil Protection, and Dimitris Vartzopoulos, Deputy Minister of Health, have also resigned. Mr Kefalogiannis has been replaced by Evangelos Tournas as Minister for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)