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Reuters
ATHENS — Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has apologized to the leader of the country's opposition Socialist Party for not knowing that he was wiretapped by Greek intelligence in 2021, saying he never allowed it. added.
The incident shocked the Greeks and caused political uproar.
His Panagiotis Kontoleon, head of the EYP intelligence agency, resigned on Friday following allegations of wiretapping by socialist leader Nikos Androulakis and journalists.
In his To Vima newspaper preview on Sunday, Mitsotakis was quoted as saying: Androulakis owes an apology for the mistakes he made.
"It was a grave and unforgivable mistake," he added.
The conservative prime minister is scheduled to make a public speech on the matter on Monday, the semi-state news agency Athens reported Saturday.
In December 2021 he was elected leader of PASOK. He did not disclose the source of the information.
The government said it was aware of Androulakis' surveillance, but said it was legitimate because it was approved by the public prosecutor, and tried to notify him, but "Androulakis chose not to respond."
Androulakis called on the Greek parliament to set up a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the incident. The government has said it would support the request if formally presented.
On July 26, Androulakis filed a complaint with the country's Supreme Court prosecutor, alleging that surveillance software attempted to wiretap his mobile phone in what appeared to be another case.
The complaint comes at a time when the European Union has followed the United States in taking a tougher look at spyware vendors and their use of powerful surveillance software.
Last week, two of his lawmakers, who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity, said Contreon was at his July 29 parliamentary committee and his subordinates said he worked for CNN Greece. He said he admitted to spying on journalist Thanasis Koukakis. (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou, Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
