Greece’s parliament has received case files from the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) related to an alleged agricultural subsidies fraud scandal involving the state agency OPEKEPE, along with a request to lift the parliamentary immunity of 11 lawmakers to allow potential criminal investigations.
The lawmakers named in the files are Konstantinos Skrekas, Katerina Papakosta, Konstantinos Karamanlis, Ioannis Kefalogiannis, Panagiotis Mitarakis, Konstantinos Tsiaras, Dimitris Vartzopoulos, Maximos Senetakis, Vasileios Vassiliadis, Christos Boukoros and Theofilos Leontaridis.
According to officials, the files also call for the establishment of a parliamentary committee to examine the actions of former Rural Development Minister Spilios Livanos and former Deputy Minister Fotini Arabatzi, who prosecutors allege were morally complicit in repeated breaches of trust while in office in 2021.
The EPPO has been investigating the alleged misuse of European Union farming funds, in what is seen as one of the most significant corruption probes involving agricultural subsidies in Greece.
Separately, the EU’s chief prosecutor Laura Kovesi has said the EPPO will continue its work despite legal and institutional constraints, stressing that corruption and organized financial crime remain a growing concern across Europe.
She also urged amendments to constitutional provisions that currently limit the prosecution of government officials, arguing that such barriers hinder full accountability in high-level corruption cases.
The investigation into OPEKEPE is part of a broader EU effort to combat fraud involving public funds, including large-scale customs evasion and organized criminal activity linked to cross-border networks.
Greek authorities are expected to review the case files in the coming days, as pressure mounts for parliamentary action on the immunity requests and further scrutiny of the alleged abuses.