ATHENS — Margaritis Schinas, a former European Commission vice president, is set to take over the Greek agriculture ministry after a widening farm fraud scandal prompted the resignation of three top government officials.
Agriculture Minister Konstantinos Tsiaras, Civil Protection Minister Ioannis Kefalogiannis and Deputy Health Minister Dimitris Vartzopoulos stepped down Friday after being implicated in fresh allegations from the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) earlier this week.
The European investigations are chipping deeper into the ranks of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ center-right New Democracy party.
They focus on dozens of cases in which Greeks allegedly received EU agricultural funds for pastureland they did not own or lease, or for agricultural work they did not perform, thereby depriving legitimate farmers of the funds they deserved. This multi-year, multimillion-euro scam was the subject of a POLITICO investigation in February 2025.
On Wednesday, the European prosecutor asked the Greek parliament to lift the immunity of the ministers, along with eight other active MPs. On Thursday, prosecutors added two more active MPs, all from the New Democracy party, to its list of targets.
As Schinas takes over the agriculture ministry, Evangelos Tournas, a former deputy minister for climate crisis and civil protection, will replace Kefalogiannis as civil protection minister, according to government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis. The responsibilities of the mental health portfolio, which Vartzopoulos held, will be redistributed internally within the health ministry.
The ever-expanding scandal triggered more high-level resignations last summer. To date, more than 20 MPs face allegations. The cases concern alleged crimes committed in 2021, while the investigation is set to continue for years.
“The government is breaking one record after another with Cabinet reshuffles decided not by Mitsotakis but by the EPPO,” said main opposition Pasok party spokesperson Kostas Tsoukalas.
“No reshuffle can save a government that relies on a majority of ministers under judicial scrutiny. The only solution is early elections to bring about a clean slate,” he said.
