Speaking on SKAI radio on Friday morning, Afroditi Latinopoulou (president of the Voice of Reason party) strongly defended the Greek Coast Guard in connection with the recent Chios incident while sharply criticizing her political opponents.
On the Coast Guard and the Chios tragedy:
“Hands off the Greek Coast Guard — it is guarding Thermopylae. Of course I feel sorry whenever human lives are lost, but here we are talking about smugglers who operate undisturbed. Where are the arrests of these traffickers? I have already called on the European Parliament to reconsider introducing the death penalty across Europe for people smugglers. In the Chios incident, there was a speedboat carrying smugglers and illegal immigrants that attempted to ram authorities to avoid arrests — a standard tactic in these circles.”
On Maria Karystianou:
“I’m not afraid of Karystianou; she’s not drowning us. The ones who should be worried are those who trampled on the 57 souls from Tempi — Velopoulos and Konstantopoulou,” Latinopoulou stated.
She added that Karystianou’s political movement “generally tries to draw support from every voter pool,” but “she doesn’t affect us because we never exploited or capitalized on Tempi.”
On Kyriakos Velopoulos (leader of Greek Solution)
Latinopoulou launched a fierce attack, describing him as “a pompous know-it-all who is trying to downplay the Epstein scandal with nonsense.”
She continued:
“There are many who still don’t really know who he is. What he has been saying and doing for so many years is monstrous. Now, when the Epstein scandal is laid bare before our eyes, he shows up to trivialize it with garbage — like citing a 2015 Lady Gaga tweet. What we are lacking is seriousness. Who does he think he is talking to? Indigenous tribes? We are dealing with dangerously superficial and thoroughly documented know-it-alls.”
The remarks highlight ongoing political friction in Greece over migration enforcement, accusations of exploiting the Tempi train disaster for political gain, and competition among smaller right-wing parties. Latinopoulou positioned her party as untouched by Tempi-related criticism while firmly supporting robust border and coast guard operations.