[REVISION HISTORY]

Greek government reforms and penal policy shifts

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2026-11-07 10:59 UTC → 2026-11-08 12:14 UTC · added ~~removed~~

Greek Minister of State Akis Skertzos has outlined various government efforts to address organized crime and judicial policy. In late October 2026, Skertzos linked the fight against criminal networks to institutional reforms in beach and public space management. He noted that since 2023, the government has worked to prevent private interests from monopolizing coastlines, citing the removal of illegal structures in Mykonos. Key reforms implemented in 2024 include transferring beach auction authority to the Land Services of the Ministry of National Economy and Finance, introducing electronic auctions for transparency, and mandating that 50% of beaches remain free for public use. To assist in monitoring, the MyCoast application was launched to allow citizens to report violations. By early November 2026, the focus shifted to critiques of previous penal policies. Skertzos targeted the 2015 to 2019 legislation known as the “Presidentskopoulo law,” which he stated led to over 18,000 prisoner releases. He highlighted that under that law, conditional release requirements were significantly lower than current standards. Skertzos noted that legislative changes since 2019 have tightened conditions for serious crimes, such as robbery and homicide, and indicated that further regulations planned for 2026 aim to increase required time served for multiple life sentences. On November 6, 2026, Skertzos expanded his political critiques to include former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. Following Tsipras’s visit to Paris, Skertzos accused him of attempting to export “obsolete political expertise” and “political ostrichism” through his participation in French labor protests. Skertzos also revisited the 2015 economic crisis, alleging that Tsipras promoted social division and anti-European sentiment, while characterizing the 2015 referendum and the subsequent third memorandum as a “great fraud.” Government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis joined these critiques, challenging Tsipras to compare the Greek economy to France. Marinakis cited economic data from 2019 to 2026, claiming Greece saw higher increases in real GDP and net earnings compared to France, and a significant reduction in public debt.

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