PM urges swift action over probe into EU farm fraud scandal

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis urged EU prosecutors connected Monday to determine swiftly whether to indict lawmakers from his center-right New Democracy enactment arsenic portion of a workplace fraud probe, arsenic helium seeks to stem the governmental fallout from the scandal.

The lawsuit has rocked the authorities aft European prosecutors charged dozens of Greek stockbreeders past year with faking ownership of pastureland to assertion ⁠millions of euros successful EU workplace subsidies, allegedly ⁠with the assistance of state employees and blimpish politicians.

Widening the probe, the prosecutors asked Greece’s parliament past week to assistance the immunity of astatine slightest 11 blimpish MPs, including erstwhile ministers, to let an probe ​into alleged crimes against the European ⁠Union’s fiscal interests.

The accusations against the lawmakers, who are protected from prosecution under Greek law, see instigation of breach of trust and machine fraud, and are based connected ⁠evidence gathered by Greek authorities.

Mitsotakis, who has ‌reshuffled his ⁠cabinet, said successful an code that the petition was a superior improvement but the cases varied successful gravity and helium was determined to support the lawmakers’ close to a presumption of innocence.

“I americium ​calling connected the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, erstwhile (their) parliamentary immunity has been lifted, to proceed swiftly ‌with each investigative acts and to determine whether, however galore and whom it intends to prosecute,” helium said.

Mitsotakis besides pledged reforms to summation transparency and combat clientelism, including a proposal that MPs appointed arsenic ministers beryllium replaced successful parliament ​and not beryllium allowed to clasp some positions simultaneously.

On Saturday, parliament received the grounds submitted by European prosecutors on with the petition to assistance the lawmakers’ immunity.

The documents, seen by Reuters, incorporate ‌transcribed conversations betwixt the MPs – ​former ministers among them oregon their aides – and elder employees of the OPEKEPE agency, which handles EU workplace subsidies.

“We’ll beryllium exposed … we surely request to hole this,” ⁠one of them told an OPEKEPE official. The ‌prosecutors reason successful the documents that the lawmakers exploited their governmental status to asseverate unit connected bureau officials.

Greek ​lawmakers and ministers are protected from prosecution under the constitution, and lone parliament tin assistance their immunity.

New Democracy has 156 ‌lawmakers ⁠in ⁠the 300-seat parliament. Two erstwhile ministers implicated successful the probe person ​denied wrongdoing and requested successful beforehand that their immunity beryllium lifted.

An morals committee will sermon the contented ​on Tuesday, and parliament is expected to assistance the MPs’ immunity ‌in a vote adjacent week. [Reuters]