ATHENS – Veteran journalist and politician Giorgos Romaios died on Friday aged 89.

He had been editor in chief of “To Vima” newspaper, general manager of national broadcaster ERT, deputy and member of the European Parliament (including Europarliament Vice-President) and held several ministry portfolios under PASOK. For two years (1976-1978), he had also served as vice-president of Journalistrs’ Union of Athens Daily Newspapers (ESIEA).

Romaios was born in Corfu in 1934, studied at the economy and commerce university ASOEE (currently, Athens University of Economics and Business) and followed a career in journalism at “To Vima” and “Ta Nea”. When PASOK swept to power in 1981 he was appointed general manager of ERT and first became Pasok deputy in 1984. He also served as deputy and alternate National Economy minister, Alternate Foreign Affairs minister, and Public Order minister, besides being elected member of PASOK’s Central Committee.

Romaios was jailed for his activism and support of the party founded by Andreas Papandreou, PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis said. “He was a prominent journalist and author, expressed progressive views, and served the democratic wing with devotion and selflessness,” Androulakis added, expressing his deep regret and condolences.

ESIEA expressed its condolences and said he had “left an indelible print on honest and investigative journalism, and became an example of ethos.” The Union described him as “a person with integrity, honest, and well- and mild-mannered. Despite his great successes, he remained modest and humble, and stood by the Union and his colleagues to the end.”

It added that in 1963, along with the late Yiannis Voultepsis and Giorgos Bertsos, “and despite the suffocating and threatening stranglehold by the police, he revealed the perpetrators and brains behind the assassination of (peace activist) Grigoris Lambrakis.” During his incarceration by the Greek junta, Romaios smuggled news abroad, it said.

Giorgos Romaios’ funeral will take place on Wednesday (March 1), at 14:30, at the Halandri Cemetery.