The Greek government has today appointed Thanos Plevris as the new Minister for Migration, replacing Makis Voridis.
Plevris, a former Greek Minister of Health, is also a member of the right-wing Laos party. His appointment comes after outgoing Minister Voridis resigned on Friday following accusations of involvement in an EU agricultural subsidies fraud during his tenure as head of the agricultural development portfolio.
Three deputy ministers have also resigned and will be replaced, with the official swearing-in ceremony for the new minister scheduled for Monday, June 30.
Voridis’s resignation occurred a week after the European Public Prosecutor’s Office sent a dossier to the Athenian Parliament for an investigation into the alleged involvement of two former ministers in Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s government in the misuse of EU funds. Voridis served as Minister of Agricultural Development between 2019 and 2021 and as Minister for Migration since January of this year.
In his resignation, Voridis stated he had committed no unlawful act and decided to step down after the opposition socialist party PASOK requested the establishment of a parliamentary committee to investigate the accusations. “Suspicion of a criminal offense is incompatible with the status of a government member,” Voridis told Prime Minister Mitsotakis, who accepted his resignation.
The conservative Greek government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis has tightened its migration policy since coming to power in 2019, intensifying controls at land and sea borders, as Greece is considered one of the largest entry points for illegal immigration into Europe.
