On Monday, Mitsotakis publicly addressed for the first time the wiretapping scandal that led to the resignation of both the head of the EYP intelligence service and the prime minister’s own chief of staff on Friday.
On July 26, Nikos Androulakis, leader of the opposition Socialist Party, revealed that his mobile phone had been monitored using the Predator spyware. Earlier this year, two Greek journalists went to court after their phones were exposed to similar wiretapping attempts.
Mitsotakis says in a televised speech that he found out a few days ago that the EYP began tapping Androulakis’ phone last September, when he was sitting in the European Parliament. The wiretapping lasted for three months and ended, in accordance with the law, after Androulakis was elected party leader.
The decision to tap the phone had been approved by prosecutors, but was a mistake, Mitsotakis said.
— I didn’t know about it. If I had done it, I would never have approved it, he continues.
The opposition politician comments by wondering why the Prime Minister does not explain why he was wiretapped in the first place. He has demanded that Parliament investigate the case.