It is especially interesting that, despite the strong polarization pre-election in the period we are going through, the problem of security does not occupy a special place in the political and programmatic confrontation of the parties. Even in debate, security was not one of the six selected subject areas. This does not happen in other countries. In France, for example, Macron’s internal security program until 2030 has been one of the main areas of competition for presidential candidates. It is noteworthy that public opinion polls have shown that security, mainly in terms of combating crime and violence, remains one of the main issues of interest and concern to citizens.

So far, only two security issues have emerged in the pre-election debate. Border security, with a confrontation mainly over the Evros fence and university security. However, political parties have a security program and can serve as a basis for comparison.

Program N.D. it is essentially a continuation of the government’s security policy, which is why it is limited to six axles. It is a holistic security structure, from borders to cyberspace, as the program usually specifies. The use of new technologies, the digitization of services provided, data analysis and intelligent interventions to fight crime, increased pedestrian and vehicle patrols, the complete expansion of the Evros fence and increased accountability and curbing police brutality. From the program of N.D. references to the fight against organized crime, the prevention of various forms of violence and the commitment to the restructuring of the Greek police, both in the headquarters and in the regional services, are absent.

SYRIZA declares as its strategic goal the complete reformation of the structure, activities and institutional framework of the Greek Police. But in how this will be implemented in practice, we see a general reference to reforming police training and strategy, transferring penitentiary policy (which is poorly identified with crime control policy) to the Department of Justice, and repealing the university police and the Assembly Law. The most specific proposals mainly concern training at various levels and in various sectors, a system of promotions and transfers, as well as issues of staff remuneration. The proposal for the participation of a parliamentary committee in the selection of the chief of the Greek police is interesting, an idea that, if placed in the appropriate context, could be a step towards continuity and cooperation. The proposals in the field of anti-criminal policy are certainly interesting, but they contain enough overlays, ambiguities and provisions that are currently overcome by preventive policy. Equally obscure is the report on the review of the strategic focus of the police services on combating organized crime. The individual axes are, in fact, existing sub-directories of the Athens Security Service.

PASOK’s proposals have some similarities with SYRIZA’s proposals, mainly in changes in education, in the promotion and transfer process, in accountability and combating police abuse, in recruitment, in an emphasis on prevention, but also in the abolition of university police. Of particular interest is PASOK’s proposal to keep people and vulnerable targets safe, as well as providing updates and annual reports from the relevant parliamentary committee. The references to new technologies and gender-based violence are worth mentioning, but they are too general and vague.

In conclusion, there are points of contact and possible cooperation between the three parties. Changes in education, the promotion-transfer system, increased accountability and the fight against police arbitrariness. But there are also points of full dimension and discontinuity. For example, both SYRIZA and PASOK propose to abolish the university police without reference to the law’s general security framework. Accordingly, PASOK accuses the government of failing to address gender-based violence, and SYRIZA proposes to strengthen the offices provided for in the AP. from 2019, not taking into account that the Government is promoting a comprehensive system for the prevention and treatment of gender-based and domestic violence (Operational headquarters, special patrols, panic button, new statistical database, response protocol, etc.).

Unfortunately, the positions of the parties lack three structural initiatives that could lead to the reform of the internal security sector. Internal security strategy, restructuring of the police structure, a new model of crisis management. We need a ten year discussion on security planning.

*Triantaphyllos Karathranthos, Senior Research Fellow, ELIAMEP