In her statement, Papakosta describes the allegations against her as ‘unfair and unfounded’ and says she has acted throughout her career with ‘honesty, ethics, dignity, straightforwardness, respect, interest and responsibility’ towards citizens.
She says the case concerns her attempt to help ‘a struggling farmer and real livestock farmer from Trikala’ who was seeking a coupled subsidy for 2020 amounting to approximately €6,000. She says she intervened after becoming ‘convinced that he was in danger of survival’.
However, she emphasises that OPEKEPE, the agency responsible for distributing and auditing EU agricultural subsidies, never approved the subsidy in question. She argues this proves her intervention ‘had no effect and did not lead to favourable treatment’.
Papakosta expressed full confidence in the judiciary and prosecutors, and said she would immediately contact the competent prosecutor’s office to provide explanations.
In a notable departure from the approach taken by other New Democracy figures implicated in the case, she announced that she would not contest the next elections ‘for reasons of political correctness’, as long as ‘there is still a shadow of criminal discredit against me’.
The full text of her statement, reproduced below, was published in capitalised emphasis in several passages:
‘I have absolutely no involvement in what is unfairly and unfoundedly attributed to me. The case under investigation concerns a struggling farmer and real livestock farmer from Trikala, who was struggling to be given the coupled subsidy for the year 2020, amounting to approximately 6,000 euros, as I was recently informed. I tried to help him, because he convinced me that he was in danger of survival. However, OPEKEPE never granted him the subsidy in question. It is abundantly clear that my political interest in my suffering fellow citizen did not help him. I request the lifting of my immunity. I will immediately contact the competent prosecutor to provide explanations for what is being attributed to me. It is a duty to my fellow citizens, to our party, to my family. The case must be resolved quickly. For reasons of political correctness, I do not intend to participate in the next elections, as there is still a shadow of criminal discredit against me.’
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