THE Greek Police underestimated the seriousness and extent of the danger and did not take sufficient measures to prevent clashesemphasized Minister of State Makis Voridis, referring to the killing of the 29-year-old AEK fan by Dinamo Zagreb fans in New Philadelphia. Speaking on SKAI TV today, Mr. Voridis spoke of the “inefficiency of ELAS” and said that the officers mistakenly thought they could handle the matter, underestimated the extent and seriousness of the danger, and had not taken sufficient measures to prevent clashes .

“Undoubtedly there is a mistake. The important thing is to see if there are problems in the systemic operation of the police. What should be, is that there are no systemic failures,” said the Minister of State.

Asked to comment on the severity of the sentences, he said that the severity of the sentences is sufficient since homicide is punishable by a life sentence “and there is nothing more to add”, he noted. He referred to the recent trial for the murder of Alki Kampanos saying that “many lives were lost in this trial” adding that “the severity of a sentence alone is not enough. The issue is to be effective in repression and arrest the perpetrators”.

Referring to the measures to deal with fan violence, he said that there should be a wider discussion on the issues of the length of time of the sentences and not on the sentences themselves, which are already severe. “However, the tightening must be a comprehensive intervention and not only for homicides,” he pointed out.

Referring to the resignation of the Minister of Citizen Protection requested by the opposition, Mr. Voridis said that Mr. Economou has been in the ministry for 10 days and no one can attribute anything to him. He added that he has the general responsibility, not the subjective one, and called the resignations “oppositional exaggerations”. He estimated that Mr. Economou had no information on this specific issue, adding that what is sent to the minister as information cannot concern the whole of the police action, but more important issues.

“The misjudgment of the police was that it is not a major issue,” he said.

Referring then to the accuracy and answering related questions, he pointed out that the measures taken by the government have a beneficial effect, but they do not solve the problem and sent a message in all directions, that if the competition does not work effectively then this has consequences, as he explained that there will be checks “not only on the market, but also on how, for example, prices are formed, etc. We all have to do our job. Support for the weak by the government, and orderly functioning of the market by businesses”.

Finally, referring to private universities and the relevant initiative that the government will undertake after the opening of Parliament, he said that there is no basis for the left to deny private universities, because children can go outside, e.g. in Cyprus and have their degree recognized, and the Greeks’ money just goes out. “It is absolute absurdity, there is no logical basis for the denial,” said Mr. Voridis.