Dear all,
Thank you for your presence here today.
I considered it appropriate to call this press conference in order to inform you about a dark case that casts a shadow over Greek society, undermining democracy, the institutions and the dignity of public persons.
As far as I am concerned: for many decades now, I have been offering my services to society and the country, always guided by the principles of ethics, transparency and good administration, with respect to the institutions, the citizens and public money. I am well known by everyone in Greece. This is the reason why Greek citizens honour me with their trust.
I would like to begin by expressing, in the strongest possible way, my frustration, but also my regret, since, at this particular moment, when very important issues are evolving in Europe and our neighborhood, public debate is monopolized by a heinous case that has all the characteristics of a deliberate and targeted plot.
I declare, in the most categorical and absolute way, that this case does not touch me personally in any way, it does not concern me, and I am dealing with it only as a deplorable case of slander, with the participation of incited and false witness covered by the hoods of anonymity.
I am confident that these criminal actions will be revealed, once a serious, transparent and in-depth judicial investigation takes place, as an independent judiciary ought to do in a European country respecting the Rule of Law.
I am proud of my entire political carrier in Greece, but also of my career as European Commissioner for Migration, Security and Citizenship, where I believe that I have contributed and I continue to contribute significantly, serving my country all these years.
Therefore, no anonymous false witnesses and no plot, from wherever it was organized, cannot -and I will not allow it- cast a shadow of suspicion over me.
It is a matter of moral order and of my personal dignity. I insist on the term deliberate and targeted scheme.
These unbelievable lies can in no way constitute a testimony that could be further examined. They serve the specific, obvious and undisputable purpose of a guided false testimony, defamation and the undermining of my personality, both socially and politically.
Besides the criminal complaint against the false witnesses, which I am lodging at the Prosecutor's Office of the Supreme Court, I will also submit, at the same time, a request to the Supreme Court to revoke immediately the anonymity of the witnesses. The Court has the obligation to do this immediately, in order for their identity to be revealed and the validity of Justice and the state's Constitutional order to be protected from attempts to undermine them by people outside the institutions.
Moreover, the false testimonies, which are targeting and damaging political personalities in Greece, are based solely on speculation, vague platitudes and rumors. There is no evidence accompanying them. In other words, they are false. Therefore, there is a flagrant violation of the principles of legality, rule of law and in general of the European and Constitutional acquis.
I have full trust in Greek judges and I believe that with their actions and decisions legality and truth will be restored immediately. The slanderers, false witnesses, their accomplices and of course their instigators will face justice, and they will be judged for their criminal actions against the political life and the institutional functioning of the country.
As I said in my first statement, if legality is not immediately restored, I will personally bring the issue before European institutions, as a violation of the democratic functioning and the rule of law in Greece.
Regarding the substance:
1. On the issue of blood molecular control systems:
I would like to remind you that one week after I assumed my duties as Minister of Health, Greek citizens lost their lives from HIV as a result of contaminated transfusions. My primary concern was to ask for information from the competent services, who told me that this was a repeated occurrence, since Greece did not dispose of blood molecular control systems, which, at that time, were the only completely safe method globally.
I then suggested to Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis to initiate the process to protect our citizens and guarantee that our hospitals provide safe blood. And we started immediately.
Now, concerning the false accusations:
The anonymous "witnesses" ignore an important piece of information: due to the significant costs involved, I asked for the competition not to be conducted by the Ministry of Development and the Ministry of Health, but by an Inter-Party Parliamentary Committee.
Indeed, by law (Government Gazette 1018 / 28-7-2006) an Inter-Party Parliamentary Committee was set up with the participation of all political groups of the Parliament at that time, as well as with the Court of Auditors, the State Legal Service, the Scientific Committee on Vaccines, the Evaluation Committee of the Vaccines Committee and senior officials from the competent Ministries. The results are well known.
The Inter-Party Parliamentary Committee did an excellent job, conducted an international call for tender, and chose in a transparent and responsible manner the only two companies offering this safe method. As a result of the Committees' work, the safest method of blood control was ensured for Greece. This important contribution upgraded Greek healthcare services and effectively protected Greek citizens. Since then, there have been no further cases of HIV infections because of blood transfusions leading to blood poisoning.
With regard to the terms of reference of the international competition that took place, it should be noted that we previously consulted an ad hoc Committee of Scientists and "Wise Men" of the Greek Blood Donation Community and the Academic Community, who ratified the proposals of the Blood Counseling Committee of the Ministry of Health on the type and the specifications of the reactors to be used for the molecular blood control.
Apart from the reactors, the cost of the Molecular Control systems, on the basis of the 5-year contract as of 2008, included:
Ø expenditures for transportation,
Ø buildings,
Ø installing required equipment (analyzers, other peripheral instruments, computers and software) and
Ø staff and education.
After the 5-year implementation of the contract, it was normal and expected to receive improved offers from the companies. The same happens with any technology over time. Today, the offer would be even more advantageous, as 12 years have elapsed.
2. Concerning H1N1 and the Vaccines
We should not forget the global panic about influenza, which at the time had mobilized International Organizations, especially the World Health Organization and the European Union, who published guidelines for the measures that each country had to take.
States exist in order to manage crises, and at such difficult moments, they ought to demonstrate their readiness, capacity and organisation to deliver solutions. The period I was Minister of Health coincided with this global health crisis. We all remember the agony of the people, the pressure by the media, the warning of the scientific community and the pressure of the Parliament itself, as can be read in the minutes of the discussions that took place then in the House, with one and single purpose: to immediately take the necessary measures to protect the health of the population.
As I said then, and as I also state today, I am proud of the result we achieved. Greece showed responsibility, seriousness and effectiveness in implementing the measures that the WHO and the EU enforced. Everything was done in accordance with the legal procedures.
The Hellenic Center for Disease Control & Prevention (HCDCP), which was the competent and responsible body for dealing with these issues, proved that it could manage this case with responsibility and effectiveness. For the scientific support of the whole process, an Interdisciplinary Committee was established with the participation of distinguished Scientists, headed by Prof. Giamarelou, Professor for Infectious Diseases. The recommendations of the Committee determined all the following stages.
In one week, all the initial measures were taken, and in the Councils of Ministers of Health of the EU, public tribute was paid to our country, while we organized and prepared our health system for a possible escalation of the crisis.
Today, ten years later, anonymous "witnesses" have linked this case with Novartis, which was one of the three companies that responded immediately at global level to the call for producing the vaccine against the disease, which back then didn’t exist and needed time to be produced.
In 2014, and after the alarm ended and the global situation returned to normal, the same case of vaccines, again following anonymous complaints was investigated by the Prosecutors of Corruption Crimes, in the framework of which a complete and detailed file was submitted by HCDCP to the Court of Appeal Prosecutor's Office. This case was closed after a decision of the Prosecutors, who carried out the preliminary examination.
The decision to archive the case was ratified by the Court of Appeals Prosecutor of Corruption Crimes, with its decision of 6/8/2014.
I wonder, did the Criminal Prosecutor who recently carried out the preliminary examination take into consideration the fact the case was already closed? And why did she decide to reopen it?
It is obvious that she did so, because she was not even able to fabricate evidence to support this plot.
On substance, I will give you some further details:
The "witness" –who will soon be forced to remove the hood of anonymity - falsely claims that NOVARTIS provided the second order of additional 8 million doses of vaccines in accordance with the WHO directives (I will come back to this).
Why do I say that this is a lie?
Because there was only one order of vaccines from this company. The second order was provided exclusively by another company, GLAXO and not NOVARTIS! Before submitting a second order, the National Drug Agency conducted market research and NOVARTIS officially declared that it is unable to submit an offer.
One more lie. From the 16 million doses of vaccines that were ordered, only 3 million were ordered from NOVARTIS. We paid only the orders that were delivered, namely 1.421.700 doses.
To clarify: the directives of the European Medicines Agency originally foresaw that two vaccine doses were mandatory per person.
On the basis of these directives, Greece rightly decided to initially cover half of the population: 4 million people, two vaccine doses per person, amounting to a total of 8 million vaccinations.
The World Health Organisation on 24 July 2009 requested with a new decision the vaccination of the entire population in every country around the world.
In a special governmental committee, convened and chaired by Mr Kostas Karamanlis, Prime Minister at that time, it was rightly decided to cover the entire Greek population, which translated into ordering 2 doses per person for a total of 8 million inhabitants (total: 16 million vaccines).
Four months later, at the end of November 2009, the European Medicines Agency decided with a newer guideline that one vaccination per person is sufficient. Subsequently, the Ministry of Health decided to cancel the second order for vaccines and reinstate the original coverage provision.
The companies affected by the cancelation of the order later decided to seek international arbitration and brought the case to the Courts. However, the Hellenic Center for Disease Control & Prevention (HCDCP) won the case.
Thus, the "witness" is lying about the quantity of vaccines, if you read what is written in the casefile. After recourse to the International Arbitration (ICC), only 3.636.700 doses from the total of the doses ordered were delivered and paid for.
One thing is beyond any dispute: The HCDCP would not have won at Arbitration, even if there had been even a mere suspicion of an improper transaction with any company.
It should be noted that among European countries only Greece resorted to international arbitration achieving the best possible outcome compared to all other countries, which were limited to a closed negotiation with companies. We did not have a closed negotiation with companies: we went to an international tribunal.
This was a great success for our country.
And I would like to remind you that after the end of the crisis, all countries worldwide had similar public debates on whether all this mobilization and all these instruments to respond to the flu pandemic were necessary.
It should also be noted that the World Health Organisation in 2009 gave credit to Greece for its operations and for the timely protection of its population.
The government’s policy was recognized as a best practice. All this is mentioned in a letter from the Prime Minister at that time, Mr Kostas Karamanlis, to the then Head of the opposition, Mr Giorgos Papandreou, who pressured and criticized the government, asking for faster and more comprehensive guarantee of the Greek citizens' protection.
All political parties and media at that time required immediate action and vaccines.
Following the October 2009 elections, the new government took over the responsibility for the payments to the companies. And here, I would like to remind you that both my successor Mrs Xenogiannakopoulou and the subsequent Minister Loverdos, when asked by journalists, affirmed that the situation had been very well managed by the previous government.
And let me add something else: It is unfortunate that the proposal I had submitted in Brussels and Geneva, at the Ministerial Health Councils of the EU was not implemented. I had proposed the supply of vaccines to be managed centrally by the European Commission. I had submitted the same proposal at the Annual General Assembly of the World Health Organisation in 2009. Countries that produce vaccines rejected this proposal. And you can understand why.
Furthermore, on 11 June 2009 the World Health Organisation (WHO), through its Director General Dr Margaret Chan, decided to raise the level of influenza pandemic alert from level 5 to level 6. In other words, an influenza pandemic was about to break out globally.
The false witness in the NOVARTIS casefile did not specify this. What is more, he/she claims that it was the HCDCP who intentionally raised the risk-level of a pandemic.
This is of course ludicrous. Briefly put, he claims that Greece has upgraded the risk worldwide and that the Minister for Health pushed Karamanlis to request more vaccines. Former Prime Minister Karamanlis is not a child that could be misled.
Karamanlis' letter to Mr. Papandreou and his public statements before the Governmental Committee prove exactly the opposite: the Prime Minister was aware of the situation and acted responsibly and effectively.
The text of the casefile and the claims included therein are nothing more than ludicrous fabrications.
Dear friends,
It has taken only two days after the disclosure of the alleged casefile for this plot to start collapsing. What we are dealing with is certainly an intentional and politically motivated action with the sole purpose of tarnishing the reputation of political opponents.
This is a reprehensible act, both morally and legally.
It is one more manifestation of the decline of Greek society. Democracy and the rule of law are being undermined openly. It is our duty to stand up against this and give an end to this dark era. The attempts to politically manipulate Justice and to undermine its officials must be stopped.
The judiciary is the absolute guarantor of security and democracy of our citizens and we need to restore the full trust of society to civil servants, which unfortunately is directly undermined by this ludicrous case.
Greece has some of the most trustworthy and dutiful judicial officials. Of course there are exceptions in every sector, like in every other institution or business.
The truth will undoubtedly come to light, and truth is my most powerful ally, supporting me since my first steps and throughout my private, professional, social and political life.
I cannot but tell you that when I first heard about these accusations I was taken by surprise, I was infuriated. It was something I could not have imagined. Still, I am not intimidated or deterred by it. The anonymous "hooded witnesses" gave in to dark and sinister purposes, in order to avoid repercussions for the unlawful acts they committed in their companies. But justice awaits them and it will not be long before they face the consequences. Soon enough, the instigators of this plot will be revealed.
Throughout my political career all these years, I was always guided by my pure love for my country and by my loyalty to transparency and fairness. All the public office positions I have held in the past, all the initiatives I have proposed and implemented over the years serve as the reminder and proof of this.
To conclude, it is a matter of hours for this plot to collapse. Rest assured that punishment awaits this plot's instigators and perpetrators.
It is the moral duty of every citizen to uphold his dignity. Dignity is the highest title one can achieve in life and one must fight and protect it every single day.
Beyond their criminal actions, which, as already mentioned, will bring them to face justice and harsh punishment, the instigators of this plot will also have to face the harsh punishment of public outcry and condemnation. This will stigmatize and leave a mark on them for the rest of their lives.