Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis defended his government’s rule of law record on Tuesday, saying it is “stronger than ever,” following a meeting with visiting European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.
Mitsotakis was commenting on a resolution of the European Parliament approved on Feb. 2.
The resolution, adopted with 330 votes in favor, 254 against, and 26 abstentions, MEPs expressed “grave concerns” about the rule of law in Greece, citing a hostile environment for journalists, the use of spyware against political opponents and journalists and abuse of power by the police.
MEPs also condemned the instrumentalization of “national security threats” to wiretap political opponents, including MEPs. In response to the wiretapping scandal, MEPs demanded that democratic safeguards should be strengthened and called for effective investigations with the help of Europol.
Commission is the final judge of the quality of the rule of law in Greece
“I insist on this, as Greece in the past few years has often been at the center of slander. Sometimes with non-existent cases, like that of little Maria in Evros, which turned out to have been staged by unscrupulous traffickers, or when with schemes and complaints about the rule of law which is stronger than ever in the country,” he said in statements to the press.
Mitsotakis said the resolution “has upset our country so much” that the Greek Supreme Court itself sought to deconstruct the allegations.
“The final judge of the quality of the rule of law is the European Commission, which has both the impartiality and the objectivity to be able to check the progress of each member state”, he continued.
The Economist hails democracy and the rule of law in Greece
In contrast to the controversial resolution of the European Parliament, The Economist’s recent report “Democracy Index,” which examines the functioning of democracy in a total of 167 countries said that Greece is among the 20 best democracies in the world.
“The birthplace of democracy has reason to celebrate, having returned to ‘full democracy’ in the ranking of the ‘Democracy Index of 2023,’” it said.
This marks the first time since 2008 that Greece has achieved this ranking, placing the country one category above the United States and member states of the European Union, such as Italy, Belgium, and Portugal, which are considered “flawed democracies.”
The Index shows that Greece was rated 10 out of 10 for electoral procedures and pluralism during the last electoral contests held in the country. This is an achievement that, as the report underlines, “12 more countries have achieved.”