Through the Minister of National Defence, Panos Kammenos, the Greek Government has again attacked journalists and press freedom in Greece, charging a newspaper’s editor, director and main political editor with slanderous defamation on the occasion of a report published about an investigation conducted into the mismanagement of EU funds intended to address the migration crisis and the tragic situation in Moria refugee camp on the island of Lesbos. The Greek minister claims that the report is libellous, while the outdated and anti-constitutional Greek law in question, which is incompatible with the Convention on Human Rights, requires the journalists to be arrested immediately, even before a court has investigated whether there are any grounds for suspecting that an offence has been committed! The government today has refused to accept an amendment tabled in Parliament by Mr Andreas Loverdos to abolish this anti-press legal provision. It should be noted that the international and European press is full of negative articles about Greece in relation to the Moria camp.

1. What is the position of the Commission, as the guardian of the Treaties, on the government’s actions with regard to the press and freedom of the press in Greece?

2. Will the EU continue to ignore the issue of the mismanagement of funds and the situation this has caused in Moria?