A Greek deputy minister and an undersecretary have resigned following a scandal involving hundreds of millions of euros in agricultural subsidy fraud, for which European authorities have also requested the lifting of immunity for 11 members of parliament.
According to Greek media, Rural Development Minister Kostas Tsiaras, Civil Protection Minister Ioannis Kefalogiannis, and Deputy Health Minister Dimitris Vartzopoulos have resigned. All three officials are implicated in the agricultural subsidies scandal that has rocked the Greek government.
Additionally, Kostas Skrekas resigned from his position as secretary of New Democracy, whose name also appears in the case files.
The Greek government immediately announced replacements. Evangelos Tournas, a former deputy minister for climate crisis and civil protection, will replace Ioannis Kefalogiannis as Civil Protection Minister. Margaritis Schinas, a former vice-president of the European Commission, will succeed Kostas Tsiaras as Rural Development Minister.
Meanwhile, Makarios Lazaridis, the New Democracy representative on the parliamentary investigative committee for OPEKEPE, was appointed Deputy Rural Development Minister, succeeding Christos Kellas.
The scandal involves suspected fraud in payments from the now-defunct state agricultural subsidies agency OPEKEPE, which handled European Union funds. Investigation files implicating 11 New Democracy lawmakers were submitted to Parliament on Friday, and the House of Representatives will decide whether to lift the lawmakers' immunity.