ATHENS – Main opposition SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance press spokesperson Nasos Iliopoulos, in an interview with MEGA television on Saturday, commented that the prime minister’s plea of ignorance regarding the phone tapping carried out by the National Intelligence Service (EYP) was, in fact, “frightening”.

Talking about the parliamentary debate on the phone tapping held on Friday, he noted that almost 60 pct of those responding to a poll in the newspaper “Ta Nea” published on Saturday considered Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis responsible for the surveillance.

“Yesterday, Mr Mitsotakis said something frightening. He said that he did not know what is going on at EYP – while at the same time having oversight of EYP. It is also frightening to hear that a political leader was placed under surveillance for reasons of national security. The reason of national security must have ended in the three-month period in which the elections in KINAL were concluded. The same “national danger” appears to have been posed by Thanasis Koukakis, the journalist who was placed under surveillance following an article in the Financial Times concerning black money-laundering in Greece, back when Mitsotakis was granting immunity to banking executives.”

According to Iliopoulos, it was also an indication of guilt that the government passed an amendment that abolished the requirement that EYP inform ADAE, the authority for communications privacy, of phone surveillance. “It is hypocritical of the government to constantly invite Nikos Androulakis to be informed about the surveillance when, based on the amendment they voted for, this is illegal,” he added.

Regarding the GPO poll in ‘Ta Nea’, he highlighted that 68 pct of those responding considered the phone tapping issue to be important or very important and that 59.1 pct considered the prime minister responsible, including 32.9 pct of ND voters.

With respect to energy prices, he pointed out that Greece was paying 452 euros per MWh when Spain was paying 160, while Greece had the highest rate increase in the EU for businesses and the third highest for households.

“The two billion euros [subsidy] that the government is now giving to providers, it has first taken from the citizens in order to give it to those who are robbing the citizens,” he added.