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Greece's migration minister resigned Friday amid allegations he fraudulently obtained European Union farm subsidies during his previous tenure as agriculture minister, prompting a swift government reshuffle announced Saturday.
Makis Voridis stepped down after the European Public Prosecutor's Office sent a case file to the Greek parliament last week requesting an investigation into alleged E.U. fund misappropriation involving two former ministers in Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis's government.
Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis announced that Thanos Plevris, a former health minister and ex-member of the far-right LAOS party, will be sworn in Monday as Voridis's replacement.
Voridis served as agricultural development minister from 2019 to 2021 before taking over the migration portfolio in January. In his resignation letter, he maintained his innocence while acknowledging the political reality of facing criminal allegations.
"Being a suspect in a criminal act is not compatible with the status of a member of government," Voridis wrote to Mitsotakis, who accepted the resignation. He added that he had "committed no wrongdoing" but chose to step down after the opposition PASOK socialist party requested a parliamentary committee to investigate the allegations.
The European investigation reportedly involves a second former agriculture minister, Lefteris Avgenakis, who held the position from 2023 until last year and remains a lawmaker with Mitsotakis's conservative New Democracy party, according to Greek media reports.
Investigators conducted searches at the Athens offices of OPEKEPE, Greece's subsidy agency, in late May, seizing documents and electronic equipment. They indicated that "a significant number" of people obtained payment rights between 2019 and 2022, primarily through false claims of public land ownership.
Voridis's political career has been marked by controversy. He founded the far-right Hellenic Front in 1994, which used the slogan "a red card for illegal migrants." He later joined the nationalist LAOS party in 2005, serving as a parliamentary representative from 2007 before switching to New Democracy in 2012.
The resignation represents a significant blow to Mitsotakis's government, with Voridis considered a key figure within the ruling party's leadership structure.
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