Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reshuffled his cabinet on Friday (3 April) in a bid to contain a growing scandal over the alleged fraudulent use of European Union farm subsidies.
The move comes days after the EU’s Chief Prosecutor asked the Greek Parliament to lift the immunity of at least 11 lawmakers, including ministers, so they can be investigated over alleged organised fraud involving EU agricultural funds.
Agriculture Minister Kostas Tsiaras and Climate Minister Ioannis Kefalogiannis resigned ahead of the reshuffle, along with a deputy health minister, a party secretary and the government’s parliamentary spokesman.
European prosecutors have already charged dozens of Greek livestock farmers with falsifying land ownership to claim millions of euros in EU subsidies, allegedly with the assistance of government officials and conservative politicians.
In September 2025, the Greek government said police had found that hundreds of farmers had misappropriated EU subsidies worth at least €22.67 million (U.S.$26.54 million), after reviewing 6,000 out of more than 800,000 applications.
A few months earlier, the EU fined Greece €392 million (U.S.$455 million) over the mismanagement of agricultural funds by OPEKEPE, the Greek state agency responsible for distributing subsidies.
A minister and four senior officials in Mitsotakis’s New Democracy government also resigned in 2025 over their alleged roles in the fraud.
The fallout from the scandal prompted protests by Greek farmers in Athens in late 2025, after EU subsidy payments were delayed due to ongoing audits of funding applications.
OPEKEPE, which the Greek government is in the process of shutting down, handled more than €2 billion (U.S.$2.31 billion) in EU farm aid annually.
One crew member from a U.S. warplane shot down over Iran has been rescued, U.S. officials said, as a search continues for a second crew member....
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reshuffled his cabinet on Friday (3 April) in a bid to contain a growing scandal over the alleged fraudule...
A parliamentary vote in Myanmar has elected junta chief Min Aung Hlaing as president, consolidating his grip on power five years after he ousted an...
Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz has hailed the growing importance of the Organisation of Turkic States (OTS) am...
Across China, people are taking part in a wide range of activities to honour fallen heroes ahead of the Qingming Festival, a traditional time for r...
One crew member from a U.S. warplane shot down over Iran has been rescued, U.S. officials said, as a search continues for a second crew member.
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it has sent a mid-level delegation to China for formal talks with Pakistan, as both sides meet in Urumqi amid efforts by Beijing to ease tensions between the neighbours.
Iran has strongly condemned U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to bomb the country “back to the Stone Age”, calling his remarks an example of “war crimes and genocide.”
France and South Korea have agreed to strengthen defence ties and energy security cooperation following a two-day visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to Seoul.
Fears of wider escalation grow despite President Donald Trump saying U.S. strikes on Iran could end within weeks. Meanwhile missile attacks, tanker incidents and rising casualties across Israel, Lebanon and the Gulf heighten risks to regional stability and energy routes.
Four astronauts blasted off from Florida on Wednesday on NASA's Artemis II mission, a high-stakes voyage around the moon that marks the United States' boldest step yet toward returning humans to the lunar surface later this decade in a race with China.
An earthquake of magnitude 7.6 struck in Indonesia's Northern Molucca Sea on Thursday, killing one person, damaging some buildings and triggering tsunami waves, authorities and witnesses said.
President Donald Trump staunchly defended his handling of the month-old U.S.-Israeli war on Iran in a prime-time address on Wednesday, saying the U.S. military was nearing completion of its mission while also reinforcing his threats to bomb the Islamic Republic back to the Stone Age.
One U.S. crew member has been rescued after Iran downed a warplane, while the search continues for a second. At the same time, Iran has officially told mediators it will not meet U.S. officials in Islamabad in the coming days, calling U.S. demands unacceptable, according to The Wall Street Journal.
One crew member from a U.S. warplane shot down over Iran has been rescued, U.S. officials said, as a search continues for a second crew member.
Across China, people are taking part in a wide range of activities to honour fallen heroes ahead of the Qingming Festival, a traditional time for remembrance and paying respect to the deceased.
France and South Korea have agreed to strengthen defence ties and energy security cooperation following a two-day visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to Seoul.
In a highly unusual move highlighting shifting narcotics diplomacy, the U.S. has handed over a Chinese fugitive accused of serious drug crimes to authorities in Beijing.
Russian forces launched a day-long barrage of drone strikes on Ukraine’s second-largest city on Thursday (2 April), injuring at least two people and sparking fires across several districts, local officials said.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment