Pressure is mounting on Greece’s conservative government following the scandal over European agricultural subsidies that has engulfed the country for nearly a year, after three cabinet members resigned on Friday. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reshuffled the cabinet, appointing Evangelos Tournas to replace Joannis Kefalogiannis as Minister of Civil Defense.
Margaritis Schinas, former vice-president of the European Commission, will succeed Kostas Tsiaras as Minister of Rural Development. Makarios Lazaridis was appointed Deputy Minister of Rural Development, replacing Kristos Kellas. The resignations came after it was revealed on Thursday that European prosecutors were investigating a growing number of politicians from Greece’s ruling party for possible misuse of EU agricultural subsidies.
The European prosecutor’s office asked the Greek parliament to waive the immunity of 11 MPs allegedly involved in the fraud scheme. Last year, European prosecutors charged dozens of people with document fraud through which they benefited from millions of euros in EU subsidies, and in June 2025 fined the Greek agency responsible for distributing those funds 392 million euros. Opposition parties have called for the resignation of every minister under investigation.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who has stressed that the fraud began before he came to power in 2019, has vowed to bring all the illegal beneficiaries to justice and recover their funds.
