Greek Vice President Kostis Chatzidakis presses Tsipras over integrity, pension costs and fuel cuts

Kostas Chatzidakis, Greece’s vice‑president, confronted former prime minister Alexis Tsipras with four specific questions. He asked why the parliament was reconvened in 2019 to pass a pre‑election benefits package and criminal‑code changes that re‑classified bribery, why the Special Court’s unanimous 13‑0 ruling against former media minister Nikos Papapoulos was ignored, why about 30 new taxes were introduced while only the casino tax was reduced, and how Tsipras finances his current campaign.

Chatzidakis also criticised Tsipras’s “populist” benefits approach and highlighted the cost of the PASOK‑proposed 13th pension, estimating it at €2.5 billion versus PASOK’s €1.6 billion figure, urging the party to submit a law for the General Accounting Office to assess.

Defending the government’s policy, Chatzidakis announced an emergency fuel‑price cut – a reduction of €0.10 per litre of gasoline and €0.05 per litre of diesel until the end of August – and dismissed conspiratorial links between the cuts and the Marfin or Vagia Néstor investigations. He said the government “will give the least, but will implement what it promises” and hinted that further fuel‑price interventions may be considered if market volatility continues.

The vice‑president framed the broader social‑policy package as the largest and most socially‑fairable effort, focusing on tax reductions and support for vulnerable groups while keeping within European fiscal rules.