Galery

1

A lawyer from Athens has filed a lawsuit against former Minister of Foreign Affairs Theodoros Pangalos in connection with his statements on the radio that the Greek intelligence service had been tapping the U.S. ambassadors in Athens and Ankara.

In his claim Agis Tatsis urges the authorities to trigger the fast track procedure against the politician, accusing him of a number of violations to the degree of felony and insisting on apprehending him since Theodoros Pangalos is not a deputy and has no immunity to protect him against this measure.

According to the lawyer, if the former minister’s allegations prove accurate, this means that "he has revealed state secrets" which "is jeopardizing the state and its servants". If Pangalos’ statements are false, he should be held liable again because he "has put the state in danger of retaliation" and for "the breach of friendly relations with other countries."

Lawyer Agis Tatsis is a member and long-time unionist of PASOK and an enthusiastic supporter of its founder and long-time leader Andreas Papandreou as well as of the left platform of the party. In his personal profile on the social networking website Facebook he states, "I regret that I was in the unfavourable position of filing a claim for criminal offences in connection with the statements of Theodoros Pangalos that the talks between the foreign ambassadors had been tapped in our country."

The former minister’s statements have frustrated the Greek government as well. Government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou stresses in a statement that the work of the Greek Intelligence Service (EYP-NIS) is regulated by the Constitution and its functions are within the context of good relations between Greece and its friends and partners. The main opposition SYRIZA party and Panos Kamenos’ Independent Greeks reacted angrily to the former minister’s statements too.

At the same time, while the wire tapping scandal is tearing the world, the U.S. media has disseminated Theodoros Pangalos’ words. According to Michalis Ignatiou, a correspondent of the Greek Mega TV in Washington, representatives of American institutions are referring to them in response to journalists’ questions about the wire tapping. In particular, some of them have recommended that the journalists should ask the Greek government for details about the intelligence programmes of the Greek secret services.

The statements made by Theodoros Pangalos in a jocular and casual tone have provoked reactions from different analysts. In their comments they are blaming the "otherwise extremely clever" former minister for providing an "alibi" of Washington at a time when dozens of governments of European and other countries are trying to seek explanations on the wire tapping of their leaders’ phone calls.

"This man apparently has a one-sided understanding of international relations... Who could accept that the U.S. ambassador in Athens had been so naive as to afford talking to his counterpart in Ankara on a landline phone? Especially given that the U.S. intelligence could not have been unaware that he had been monitored by the Greek services," states one of the analyses. According to its author, Theodoros Pangalos might have been caught in a trap and in practice, someone might have manipulated him, turning, through the conversations overheard, his behaviour towards the desired direction.

The analyst states that this scenario is not exaggerated because the documents published on Wikileaks show that Greek politicians, senior government officials and even the leadership of the intelligence service had very easily talked about matters which, under normal conditions, should have been secret.