“I did not hesitate to own up to the mistake with the surveillance of Androulakis,” said Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Parliament at the beginning of his speech in the pre-scheduled debate on the surveillance by the EYP.

“I take the floor with the expectation that the discussion will lead to solutions to any gaps found in critical state structures. With the belief that despite the great toxicity we will achieve convergence. I take the floor in the hope that the debate will take place in an atmosphere of national responsibility,” said the prime minister, stressing that state security does not allow partisan rivalries.

“I accepted with self-criticism what happened with the legal tapping of Mr. Androulakis. When I informed him I did not hesitate to admit that it was a mistake. To which I immediately responded by firing the persons in the EYP and the general secretariat of the prime minister and with an Act of Legislative Content that brings additional guarantees. I immediately accepted that the case should come to the Plenary of Institutions and Transparency and the formation of an inquiry with the suggestion of the minority, a right instituted by this government. At the same time, I submitted four areas of change for a new framework in intelligence services. Be careful, no initiative should undermine their work. It should enhance and not bog down their work. Because it was the EYP who informed us about the attempted mass invasion of Evros” stressed Mr. Mitsotakis.

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The political leaders are clashing in a Plenary session on the illegality of phone tapping by the state intelligence services in a pre-scheduled debate in the Plenary Session in Parliament. PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who has come under immense pressure after revelations that opposition leader of KINAL Nikos Androulakis was being secretly surveilled has taken the stand and will attempt to defend his actions.

According to information, the prime minister’s protologue will be institutional and will invite all the parliamentary parties to a meaningful dialogue for the formation of the new operating framework of the country’s secret services. Kyriakos Mitsotakis will emphasise the need to deal with chronic problems and “gray” areas of the National Intelligence Services (EYP) and the adoption of clear rules for the operation of the service which will not, however, reduce the ability to carry out its crucial national work. The same sources claim that the prime minister will underline the need for a full investigation of the case and will call on the parties to respect the confidentiality of the relevant procedures.

At the same time, he will repeat that no state agency, much less the government, procured and has nothing to do with the illegal Predator software.

At the same time, government sources claim that if the prime minister is challenged by the opposition on the issue of surveillance of political figures, he will lift the gauntlet by referring to cases concerning the previous government.

For his part, SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras is expected to launch a fierce attack on the government and personally on the prime minister, calling on him to answer whether other political figures are being monitored besides the president of PASOK –

KINAL’s Nikos Androulakis during yesterday’s meeting of his party’s parliamentary group called on the PM to “…publicly reveal the reason for my phone tapping. Tomorrow you must tell the whole truth to the Greek people,” he said.