In a clarifying statement, the Vice-President of Parliament and ND MP for Lesbos North, Charalambos Athanasiou, after his reports, made a statement about the possibility of monitoring MPs for reasons of national interest, which caused a sharp reaction from the opposition.

“Since what I said in the interview was a misinterpretation, I emphasize that I never questioned the patriotism of my fellow deputies, regardless of their religion. This does not follow from a careful reading of my whole position. What I clearly analyzed was my scientific opinion on declassification in matters of national security.”

“Let’s say that a member of parliament who has a completely different religious orientation from the Orthodox … Let’s say a Muslim member of parliament from Northern Greece … I’m not saying that there is any threat to God … If we assume that he gives some information to a neighboring country where immigrants will come, etc… Why not control it?

National security comes first here. If there is a procedure that the legislator provides, of course (phone monitoring). What does the implementing executive law of the Constitution say? What does our Constitution say in Article 19? It says, verbatim: “The law defines guarantees under which the judiciary is not bound by secrecy for reasons of national security.” That’s what the Constitution says.”