New Democracy President Kyriakos Mitsotakis commented on the revelations that the Education Ministry had essentially ‘legalised’ forged degrees among 2,500 public servant examinees, dubbing the act ‘extreme villainy’. ‘They are provoking the young people who are struggling to study and acquire and earn place in the marketplace on their own merits’, said the leader of Greece’s major opposition party.

Mitsotakis lashed out at the government accusing it of provoking the Greek citizens taxpayers who demanded meritocracy and transparency in the public sector that they were paying for. ‘We want to build a better Greece with meritocracy’, said Mitsotakis in his statement.