PASOK and its European Parliament group are leveling accusations of an attempt to cover up the OPEKEPE scandal, in light of the upcoming visit to Greece by the European Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control (CONT) to Greece to investigate the matter.
This mission is scheduled to take place from Tuesday, May 26, to Thursday, May 28, 2026.
In a joint statement, PASOK MP and head of the Parliamentary Committee on Economic Affairs Milena Apostolaki and PASOK MEP Yannis Maniatis denounce that the government and the European People’s Party are attempting to silencethat could shed light on the OPEKEPE case.
As they note, Members of the European Parliament will meet primarily with government officials (ministers, deputy ministers, and secretaries-general), while only two meetings with individuals proposed by PASOK (the National Union of Agricultural Cooperatives and P. Tycheropoulou) are included in the final program.
Unfortunately, as noted in a statement, despite efforts to create a pluralistic and balanced program, New Democracy and the European People’s Party, in collaboration with the far right, managed to reject the proposals submitted by the Head of the PASOK Eurogroup, G. Maniatis in collaboration with PASOK’s rapporteur on the Investigative Committee, M. Apostolaki, thereby preventing the hearing of key witnesses who would have had much to contribute.
It is noteworthy, it is pointed out, that in their effort to prevent even the meeting with Ms. Tycheropoulou, the European People’s Party threatened to withdraw from the mission.
“Consequently, the mission’s agenda—under the responsibility of New Democracy and the European People’s Party—excludes the producers and livestock farmers who exposed the scandal, the employees (with the exception of Ms. Tycheropoulou) and former administrators of OPEKEPE, who were dismissed from the Agency as soon as they attempted to curb the corruption. "Despite their efforts, however, we will not allow the truth to be covered up," G. Maniatis and M. Apostolaki emphasize in their joint statement.