SYRIZA to N. Panagiotopoulos: The government and he who chose the ‘hiding place’ for the weapons are to blame for the leaks

With a harsh statement, SYRIZA, through the competent heads of departments G. Katrougalos and G. Tsipras, stigmatizes the stance of the Minister of National Defense and the government as a whole for the armament that the country sent to Ukraine, with the peak of the information deficit:

“Instead of stopping the government from sending heavy weapons to Ukraine, of which we are all informed by foreign officials, instead of stopping the theater of the absurd to” hide “elements that are known to all interested parties and to harmonize with the rest European governments that officially and in detail announce what they are sending for reasons of international order and security but also a democratic obligation to their citizens, the Minister of National Defense is looking for “responsible” in the army and in the Staffs “.

In detail, the announcement is as follows:

We wish the Minister of National Defense, Mr. Nikos Panagiotopoulos, a speedy recovery.

But we urgently call on him to stop reinforcing the morbidity of the political climate. Just today, instead of the Minister of National Defense reconstructing the offensive for the personnel of the Armed Forces with which he characterized the Staffs as “Swiss cheese”, he announced in an interview the activation of the Military Penal Code against soldiers.

Instead of stopping the government from sending heavy weapons to Ukraine, of which we are all informed by foreign officials, instead of stopping the theater of irrationality from “hiding” elements that are known to all interested parties and harmonizing with the rest of Europe governments that officially and in detail announce what they are sending for reasons of international order and security but also a democratic obligation to their citizens, the Minister of National Defense is looking for “responsible” in the army and in the Staffs.

At the same time, referring to the Prime Minister and his statement that it is time for a national rally, in the same announcement, the heads of SYRIZA state:

“If he sought reconciliation, the first step would be to inform the Greek people and the opposition about critical foreign and armaments policy choices instead of playing hide and seek and learning from third parties.”

The path the government is taking to deal with its own impasse is extremely dangerous. Is this a method of creating a divisive climate and searching for expiatory “culprits” in view of deadlocks? When the Prime Minister declares that “it is time for a national rally against an unpredictable neighbor”, what is he really seeking? Conciliation or division?

If he sought reconciliation, the first step would be to inform the Greek people and the opposition about critical foreign and armaments policy choices instead of playing hide and seek and learning from third parties.

The Minister of National Defense must apologize to the SYRIZA MP-Progressive Alliance of the prefecture of Lesvos, Giannis Bournou, whom he arbitrarily and unjustly targeted, showing him that he allegedly revealed sensitive military secrets, while referring exclusively to ” positions or orders of the army “as slandered! The day before yesterday, Giannis Bournous and his family have been receiving a barrage of terrorist threats and insults, from an organized internet troll mechanism of the extreme right, on the occasion and starting point of Mr. Panagiotopoulos’s statements.

We point out again that the first culprit for any leaks is the Government itself and the Minister and the “hiding place” they chose. The list of weapons systems and ammunition that have already been sent or are about to be sent to Ukraine does not constitute a deliberate leak to anyone, but information available from the Greek Government itself to many sources, both domestic and international. As SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance, we have responsibly chosen not to pre-empt the publication of such data. We asked the Government to do so formally. The government irresponsibly, anti-democratically and hypocritically denied it. Now she is realizing the consequences of her choices and instead of thinking, she is threatening to activate the Military Penal Code.

Mr. Minister, we sincerely and wholeheartedly wish you an iron, but to God, not an iron fence. The door must be closed to any suspicion of practices such as those in the “Shield” case, which belong to dark times. Realize that with what you do and say, you are encouraging the most extreme, intolerant, far-right, pseudo-patriotic and nationalist tendencies that exist as a minority in society, but with a strong presence in your party.