In Greece, it is the humorous delicacy that Internet users delight in for the end-of-year celebrations. At the end of the week, in Brussels, facing the microphones of the international press, the Greek lawyer of Eva Kaili defends his client. He then affirms without great surprise that the deposed vice-president of the European Parliament, arrested in flagrante delicto, is ” innocent » and that she has « never been corrupted “.
From our correspondent in Athens,
It’s all a matter of language. These few words on the innocence of his client, Eva Kaili’s Greek lawyer – Michalis Dimitrakopoulos – expressed them in English, but also and above all in laborious French with a very approximate pronunciation. It is this French version of the lawyer’s words that Greek Internet users have since taken pleasure in reinterpreting.
” I want to tell you that ma’am Eva Kaili is innocent and has never been corrupted. Never. ” Instead of “ never corrupted », the Greeks thought they heard here « Zame Koropi which sounds roughly in Greek like “ we lived in Koropi », from the name of a small town very close to Athens airport. Since then, jokes including this village of Koropi have multiplied online, thanks to the use of the keyword ” zame-koropi “.
Jokes that make the Greek canvas vibrate
One of the posts that arouses the most reactions on the platforms is that of the French cultural institute, which – with a keen sense of marketing – takes the opportunity to promote its language courses on the various social networks. A kindly sarcastic message” maybe it’s time to learn to really speak French accompanies the now famous keyword, “ koropi-zame “.
A keyword which has also become synonymous in Greece with speaking “approximately” foreign languages, which has prompted some Internet users to repost compilations by former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who is regularly in difficulty with the language of Shakespeare. Finally, on a fake movie poster with the face of Eva Kaili and her defender, we can read ” the lawyer who learns French is his only hope “. The fake film, presented as a “ social thriller “, is again titled “ We lived in Koropi: Zamé Koropi “.
Eva Kaili prosecuted in Belgium and Greece
For both of them, the legal road looks a priori long, the former vice-president of the European Parliament being prosecuted in Belgium, but also in Greece, in his country. A country marked by a decade of economic crisis and now plagued by inflation.
►Also read: “Qatargate”: former Vice-President of the European Parliament, Eva Kaïli, kept in detention
The humor deployed by Internet users therefore also looks like catharsis after the shock wave of what appears to be a huge corruption scandal involving Qatar and Morocco, at the highest level of European institutions. Due to its immediate popularity online, the phrase ” Ε zamé was Koropi ” has for its part been designated as ” the best slogan of the year by the Greek daily To Vima. A way to end the year with more lightness.