Theodoros Rousopoulos

Theodoros Rousopoulos

Theodoros Rousopoulos ( Greek Θεόδωρος Ρουσόπουλος ; born September 13, 1963 in Kyparissia ; also Roussopoulos ) is a Greek journalist and politician .

biography

Rousopoulos studied journalism in Athens. He completed his studies at the Oxford Academy. From 1981 he worked as a journalist in Athens, first for the newspapers Eleftherotypia and Kyriatiki Eleftherotypia , then as a co-founder of private radio (member of the program committee at the radio station "Athina 9.84") and private television (political editor and editor-in-chief at "MEGA Channel ”), employee of the newspapers“ Nea Mesimvrini ”and“ Kathimerini tis Kyriakis ”and political commentator for the television channel“ STAR ”.

In 2000 he became press spokesman for the Nea Dimokratia party .

Rousopoulos had been Minister of State and government spokesman in the Karamanlis I cabinet since March 10, 2004 and was considered a close confidante of Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis .

On October 23, 2008, Rousopoulos resigned after the Greek parliament had decided to set up a preliminary investigation committee to investigate, among other things, its role in the controversial real estate deal with the Athos monastery at Vatopedi . On June 12, 2009, he informed Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis of his decision not to run for the “Nea Dimokratia” party in the upcoming parliamentary election .

Real estate scandal

Rousopoulos has been the focus of oppositional attacks in a scandal over controversial real estate transactions between the Greek state and the Athos monastery at Vatopedi . The lake was said to have been bequeathed to the monastery by Byzantine emperors almost 1,000 years ago. Although the monastery's ownership claims were in dispute, they were recognized by the state. In exchange for the lake with its entire water surface and all shore properties, the monastery received 260 valuable properties in touristic developed areas, including in the Olympic Village in Athens, some of which it immediately resold at a profit. "They sold the lake - in other words," air "- to the state and got valuable offices, land and buildings in Athens for exchange," criticized the opposition. The damage suffered by the state, which resulted from the fact that the lake properties claimed by the monastery were greatly overvalued and the state barter properties were greatly undervalued, is estimated at 100 million euros. The real estate scandal shook the government of Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis severely; it also led to the resignation of the real estate minister Giorgos Voulgarakis . Rousopoulos is said to be a close friend of the Vatopedi abbot Efraim.

Web links

• Athens News Agency (English, with photo)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Information from the Greek Embassy in Berlin ( Memento of the original from June 12, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ Tagesspiegel of October 23, 2008: "Minister of State resigns after real estate scandal."
3. ↑ Tages-Anzeiger of October 22, 2008: "Investigations against monks from Holy Mount Athos"
4. ↑ taz of October 20, 2008: "Greek Prime Minister under pressure"