The President of NIKI, Dimitris Natsios, speaking in Parliament during the pre-agenda debate on the state of the Rule of Law and Institutions in Greece, launched a fierce attack against the government, accusing it of institutional deviation, cover-ups, impunity, and the systematic degradation of democracy.
In his speech, he placed particular emphasis on the wiretapping scandal, the OPEKEPE case, the Tempi tragedy, the collapse of meritocracy, and the abandonment of the Greek periphery, with special reference to livestock farmers in Lesvos.
At the same time, he submitted concrete institutional proposals for genuine judicial independence, the lifting of parliamentary immunity, and the restoration of public trust, concluding with a clear call for political change and recourse to the popular mandate.
Full Speech of the President of NIKI
Christ is Risen, and many happy returns, ladies and gentlemen colleagues, Mr. President. We too at NIKI, sincerely wish Mr. Mylonakis a swift recovery and a prompt return to his family and children.
Your speech, Mr. Prime Minister, was pitiful. I counted twenty minutes of self-glorification: “What I did,” “I, I, I.” No vision whatsoever. “Praise me.” A grand idea only for yourself—and evidently, that is the only grand idea that occupies your mind.
Let me make a reference to the island of Lesvos, where one of its most thriving sectors is literally being dismantled. It is imperative that the livestock farmers of Lesvos learn why the government insists on slaughtering animals on the island while rejecting vaccination against foot-and-mouth disease.
The Ministry responds with half-truths, claiming that EU legislation does not allow it. This is false. Vaccination is fully provided for under European Union regulations, and it is up to each country to decide whether to implement it.
A recent example of successful vaccination against foot-and-mouth disease was Cyprus, which managed to save its livestock from slaughter. Why do you insist on destruction? What are you trying to conceal?
While the transport of potentially contaminated fresh milk is officially prohibited, no provision has been made for the safe disposal or burial of unsold milk. Farmers in Lesvos are left in despair, forced to scatter it across the island—what local newspapers are now calling a “public health bomb.”
We submit Annex 7 of the European Commission regulation on emergency vaccination for foot-and-mouth disease to the parliamentary record. Farmers are being ruined; the island is collapsing. Stop the slaughter now.
Mr. Prime Minister, today’s debate on the rule of law is prompted by developments in the wiretapping scandal. But it concerns something much greater: the nation and democracy itself.
No one wants to live in the kind of country and democracy you have created. This so-called rule of law is neither a state nor does it bear any relation to justice.
What you are doing to institutions, Parliament, the judiciary, your MPs, the European Public Prosecutor, and meritocracy is a disgrace. You are the “shame of democracy”. You humiliate our country daily.
Two centuries later, General Makriyannis is vindicated: “We have become the laughingstock of the world and the rag of nations.” You are the disgrace of the nation.
It is not only your scandals—where you hold a doctorate. You appoint ministers without degrees or uneducated cheerleaders. What can one say about the OPEKEPE scandal, where billions were illegally distributed to insiders?
Not a single euro has been returned to rightful beneficiaries. Meanwhile, bureaucratic tightening punishes those who acted lawfully. Despite promises of efficiency, only €202 million were paid to fewer than 129,000 beneficiaries, while state debts to producers reach €931 million.
This is money missing from people who produce under extreme cost pressures. The situation is not merely problematic—it is insulting to their dignity.
Should one mention the Tempi tragedy? Three years have passed, and there is still no clarity. Evidence disappears or is altered. Victims’ families are subjected to character assassination. Justice crawls like a wounded tortoise, attempting to cover its nakedness.
This is your rule of law: a field of fraud, crime, cover-ups, and corruption, with institutions and citizens as victims.
You monitor your own ministers and MPs like the Stasi. In ancient Athens, those guilty of financial misconduct were declared “dishonored,” a status akin to moral annihilation.
You have created a society of dishonor.
Young, highly educated Greeks emigrate, seeking better opportunities, while here they are reduced to errands. This is the tragedy of the nation: its brightest minds are driven abroad.
Meanwhile, mediocrity thrives. You have filled Greece with individuals whom past prime ministers would not appoint even as clerks—but you reward them with ministries for doing your “dirty work.”
You have achieved one form of equality: making Greeks equal in misery.
Excellence in dishonor. Excellence in decay. Excellence in cover-ups.
And then there is the issue of wiretapping.
When the surveillance of journalist Koukakis emerged, you called it a private matter. When politicians and military officials were revealed to be monitored, you spoke of “dirty networks.”
When you were compared to Nixon, you remained silent.
Who will trust you? Which foreign leader will speak openly with you? Which investor will risk their money in a country where they feel surveilled?
You did not only conceal illegal wiretapping—you also hid lawful ones related to OPEKEPE from the European Public Prosecutor.
Wherever one touches your governance, it stains.
You are not a government—you are a black stain on the history of the nation. And that is how you will be remembered.
In conclusion, we propose:
Full judicial independence without political interference
Automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity
Separation of criminal investigations from parliamentary majorities
You are not fighting the system—you are the system.
You are a government of patronage and cover-ups.
Therefore, the resignation of this government is imperative.
The people no longer trust you.
When public trust is gone, there is only one answer:
Elections now. Return to the people’s verdict.
NIKI stands not as a party of anger, but as a movement of truth, responsibility, and consistency.
We come from the people—from whom you have long been detached.
And as Nikolaos Plastiras once said:
“We will take Greece by the ear and save it—whether it wants it or not. But without you. You only destroy.”
Thank you.
