Mitsotakis vows no 'untouchables' in corruption fight as Athens planning-office bribery ring is dismantled

The planning-office bust

Greek police have dismantled an organised extortion and bribery network operating inside Athens municipal planning offices. The case came to light after an anonymous complaint was filed with the Hellenic Police, which Mitsotakis cited as proof that every report is investigated and, if corroborated, pursued to its conclusion. He urged citizens to trust the authorities and not hesitate to report such encounters.

“The fight against corruption is not won with wishful thinking, but with a plan, persistence and political will.”

Government response and reform path

Nine months ago, Mitsotakis announced from the Thessaloniki International Fair a flagship reform transferring the issuance and inspection of building permits from fragmented municipal structures to a new, unified digital Land Registry. He framed the reform as a structural answer to opacity and clientelist dependencies, arguing that transparency tools make enforcement more effective. The prime minister drew a parallel with earlier clashes against tax-office rackets through the now-independent tax authority (AADE).

“The message is clear: there are no safe havens, there are no untouchables. Just as we fought every kind of racket in local tax offices through the now-independent AADE, so we are fighting every criminal network in local planning offices too.”

Six years of gov.gr

The prime minister anchored his message in the sixth anniversary of gov.gr, the government's unified digital-services portal. The platform now offers 2,257 digital services, has served more than 9 million citizens, and has issued over 431 million documents and certificates. Mitsotakis argued the deeper significance is not the numbers but the demonstration that the state can become faster, simpler, more transparent and more citizen-friendly. A new Unified Digital CRM Infrastructure has been launched so that every citizen or business request — whether submitted via gov.gr, citizen service centres or phone — is tracked in a unified way.

Digital services2,257

Citizens served (millions)9

Documents issued (millions)431

Digital services

2257

Citizens served (millions)

9

Documents issued (millions)

431

Data from the article text

Land registry and spatial planning

Mitsotakis reported that Greece has completed 99% of its national land registration, closing a backlog of almost two centuries. The government has set a 2030 horizon for the country to have fully organised spatial planning and clear land-use designations in every corner of the country. He described it as a 'silent' but deep reform that fortifies legality, strengthens development and restores trust between citizens and the state.

Health and telemedicine rollout

The prime minister detailed ongoing modernisation of the National Health System. Of 335 planned telemedicine stations, 329 have been installed nationwide, with real-time doctor-patient connections expected to be operational by the end of June 2026. Some 3,000 home-monitoring systems are being deployed for patients with chronic conditions, and mobile health units will carry telemedicine equipment. Digital patient-tracking bracelets are now in use at 73 hospitals; in May alone, more than 280,000 cases at connected hospitals recorded average service times below the annual mean, with Athens's KAT hospital averaging two hours.

Migration and the EU pact

On migration, Mitsotakis said Greece is aligning with the new European Pact on Migration and Asylum, which provides for stricter external-border protection, faster asylum procedures and greater support for frontline member states. He stressed that Greece played a leading role in shaping the policy, having long argued that migration management cannot fall solely on first-reception countries. Under the new framework, irregular migrants will be transferred to 'return hubs' operating outside the EU rather than remaining in closed facilities inside Greece; the government aims to sign the first agreements for these hubs in 2026 so they become operational by 2027.