Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had been in the dark over the phone tapping of socialist party leader Nikos Androulakis by the country's intelligence service in 2021 that has sparked a political storm, he told the nation on Monday.
Mitsotakis, who faces elections next year, made the remarks in a televised address to the nation three days after a wiretapping scandal led to the resignations of the head of the National Intelligence Service, Panagiotis Kontoleon, and the general secretary of the prime minister's office, Grigoris Dimitriadis.
"What happened might have been in accordance with the letter of the law, but it was wrong," Mitsotakis said. "I didn't know about it and obviously, I would never have allowed it." The National Intelligence Service, known by its acronym EYP, answers directly to the prime minister's office, a change Mitsotakis brought about himself after winning 2019 elections.
He said EYP had underestimated the political dimension of the phone tapping. "It was formally adequate but politically unacceptable."
Mitsotakis said the mobile phones of Androulakis had been placed under "legal surveillance" from Sept. 2021 for three months. The wiretaps had been halted "automatically" a few days after Androulakis won the party leadership race, he said, but did not elaborate on why the opposition politician was targeted.
"Even though everything happened legally, the National Intelligence Service underestimated the political dimension of the particular action," Mitsotakis said. "It was formally adequate, but politically not acceptable. It should not have happened, causing rifts in citizens' trust of the national security services."
The prime minister said that since the handling of the issue was inappropriate, the head of EYP "was removed immediately" and his own office's general secretary "assumed the objective political responsibility" by resigning.
On Friday, the prime minister's office did not give any reason for Dimitriadis' resignation. But a government official insisted it was "related to the toxic climate that has developed around him" and that it had nothing to do with spyware targeting Androulakis' phone.
Panagiotis Kontoleon offered his resignation due to management "errors" during his time in the role, Mitsotakis' office said in a statement. The announcement that Kontoleon had resigned from his position at the head of the national intelligence service EYP came less than an hour after the secretary general of the prime minister's office, Grigoris Dimitriadis, also quit.
The resignations came a week after the leader of the country's Socialist opposition party, Nikos Androulakis, filed a complaint with the supreme court over "attempted" spying on his mobile phone using Predator malware.
Two Greek journalists have also taken legal action this year after they claimed to have been victims of surveillance.
Androulakis on Friday called for a special investigation by parliament into the incident.
"I never expected the Greek government to spy on me using the darkest practices," he said.
The government has consistently denied any state involvement, saying it had not bought software of that type, but the rows have sparked an outcry in the country.
Government spokesperson Yiannis Economou has said it was "plausible" that individuals used Predator to spy and that all of Europe faced surveillance threats.
In November, Greek minister of state George Gerapetritis had insisted to Agence France-Presse (AFP) that there is "no surveillance of journalists in Greece" by the state. "Greece fully adheres to the values of democratic society and rule of law, especially pluralism and the freedom of the press," Gerapetritis said.
As such, he argued there was "no need for further action" to verify the alleged monitoring of investigative journalist Stavros Malichudis.
Kontoleon, who was appointed EYP head in 2019 after Mitsotakis's conservative party won power that year, had implied while in that role that the journalists had been targeted on the order of foreign intelligence services.
Investigative websites Reporters United and Inside Story have accused Dimitriadis – a nephew of Mitsotakis – of being linked to the alleged spying scandals involving Androulakis and Greek financial journalist Thanasis Koukakis.
The main opposition party, the left-wing Syriza, called the affair "a huge scandal." Its leader, former premier Alexis Tsipras, said the resignation of Dimitriadis was "an admission of guilt" and that Mitsotakis himself bore some of the responsibility.
"Mr. Mitsotakis must give explanations to the Greek people over his own Watergate," Tsipras said.
'A dystopian, Orwellian reality'
Experts note that Predator, originally developed in North Macedonia and subsequently in Israel, can access both messages and conversations.
"A few days ago I was informed by the European Parliament that there was an attempt to bug my mobile phone with Predator surveillance software," Androulakis told the media as he left a court in Athens on July 26.
"Finding out who is behind these harmful practices is not a personal matter but a democratic duty," he added.
The European Parliament set up a special service for MEPs to check their phones for illegal surveillance software following hacks using spyware similar to Predator called Pegasus.