Press reports on Wednesday claimed that the widow of a late shipowner, on whose luxury yacht Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras spent an undeclared family vacation last August, has been proposed by the current government to serve as one of two of Greece’s representatives to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Katerina Panagopoulou, the widow of influential and highly respected Greek shipping magnate Pericles Panagopoulos, has already served for three years as an unpaid aide, on Diaspora issues, in Tsipras’ prime ministerial office, and was recently appointed as a goodwill ambassador-at-large – post that retains certain diplomatic privileges.
According to a report in the Wednesday edition of “Ta Nea”, which cited a “reliable source”, the proposal was made by the relevant sports deputy minister.
“… You lend me your yacht, and I’ll make you an ambassador-at-large and an ‘immortal’,” was the scathing reaction by main opposition New Democracy (ND) party, with “immortal” in this case referring to the IOC national delegates and the fact they serve for life.
Taking an aim directly at leftist prime minister and one-time anti-bailout and euro-skeptic political maverick, ND charged that the “hypocrisy, impudence, and conceit by the yacht-loving Mr. Tsipras knows no bounds”.
