Presumption of innocence for everyone, of course. But in politics and public administration there is an unforgivable truth: when serious indications of the embezzlement of European funds circulate, the damage does not remain an “internal matter”. It crosses borders. It strikes at the credibility of the country. And it activates the most dangerous reflex: the suspicious gaze of partners.
The OPEKEPE case is one of those that, if the hard evidence is confirmed, does not simply damage a service or a few “mechanisms”. They send a message that the state has failed to protect the most crucial thing: public money . And when this money is European , then the discussion ceases to be “Greek”. It becomes a European headache .
And as if that weren’t enough, along comes the GSEE scandal — smaller in terms of sums, but almost as shocking as a symbol . Because we’re not just talking about numbers here. We’re talking about moral collapse . When an institution that is supposed to defend the worker appears to be involved in stories of opacity, then not only is trust lost: the very concept of “representative” is dissolved .
Some will say, “Hush, markets aren’t moved by morality.” That’s right — but markets are moved by risk . And big scandals create risk in two ways:
- First, they damage the image of stability .
- Second, they pave the way for surveillance , fund freezes , audits , and political friction that cost far more than the amounts themselves.
Greece may today display better indicators, a more “normal” profile, less tension in financing. But history has taught us something inexorable: from “good student” to “class problem”, the distance is not years. It is a few months , if the mixture becomes toxic: arrogance , lax controls , party state , favoritism , impunity .
And yes, we don’t need to relive the time when Brussels raised eyebrows and “seals” fell on a country that was presented as a special case. We don’t need to see Europe looking at us as if we were permanently suspicious. But for this to not happen, there is one condition: not to show tolerance for cases that smell of plundering resources .
Because the problem is not just “those involved.” The problem is the culture that allows mechanisms to be set up around subsidies, programs, seals, and “services,” until at some point the European Commission or the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) knocks on the door and we wonder how “no one saw it.”
When you play with European money, you are not playing with “pocket money”. You are playing with jobs , with development tools , with rural communities , with social cohesion . You are playing, ultimately, with the right of a country to demand respect and trust at the European Union table.
That’s why the right slogan is not the leveling “all the same”. That is poison and charisma in the extreme. The right slogan is something else: everyone is controlled . With real controls. With transparency , digital traceability , independent audits , returns of stolen goods , legal sanctions and no political umbrella .
Because the country is not in danger when a scandal is revealed. It is in danger when a scandal becomes routine . When the system learns to live with the filth and to baptize it as “the excesses of the opponents.” And then, suddenly, one day, neither the “foreigners”, nor the “markets”, nor the bad time will be to blame. Our own tolerance will be to blame.
The guards should be aware . Not with words. With actions.
GEORGE AGRAFIOTIS
