Appointment Of Greece's New National Intelligence Head Causes Political Scandal

The appointment of the top manager of an international security company, Panagiotis Kontoleon, as the head of Greece's National Intelligence Service (NIS), caused a political scandal, with the opposition criticizing the government for the choice, the media saying that the head of the intelligence agency has no university degree, and the intelligence website lacking any information about the new chief

ATHENS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd August, 2019) The appointment of the top manager of an international security company, Panagiotis Kontoleon, as the head of Greece's National Intelligence Service (NIS), caused a political scandal, with the opposition criticizing the government for the choice, the media saying that the head of the intelligence agency has no university degree, and the intelligence website lacking any information about the new chief.

However, the government will apparently not change its decision.

The information that NIS will be headed by Kontoleon, the top manager of one of the largest multinational security companies, G4S, appeared the day after the New Democracy party led by Kyriakos Mitsotakis scored a clear victory in the country's snap parliamentary elections at the beginning of July. It was published by the Greek daily newspaper Vima, which is close to the new government. The newspaper called the choice a "surprise," noting that Mitsotakis' inner circle had been choosing Kontoleon's candidacy carefully.

The appointment was officially announced only on August 1. The press service of the cabinet said that the NIS leadership was appointed according to the same model as the government was. The intelligence service is being strengthened by technocrats in the professional field, and NIS is being modernized to confront new dangers such as cyberwarfare, terrorist and criminal activities at the global level with geopolitical consequences.

At the same time, NIS will now directly report to the Greek prime minister.

The government called Kontoleon a very "respected leader who has made a significant career in the field of security," and stated that he was "valued abroad, in countries with which Greece has traditionally cooperated."

The largest opposition party, Syriza, has questioned Kontoleon's ability to manage intelligence and the fact that he had a diploma of higher education.

Kontoleon's official biography appeared only a few days after the appointment. According to it, he was born in Athens in 1965; in 1999, he received a bachelor's degree in management from the United Kingdom's Open University; and, two years later, he received his MBA from the same university.

"He served as CEO of security services for many years and, for the past seven years, he has served as chairman and chief executive officer in a group of companies with more than 2,000 employees and a turnover of 50 million euros [$55 million]. He speaks English and has a general knowledge of French. He is married and has two children," the official biography sent out by the government's press service read.

However, as of today, there is no information about the new chief on the NIS website. The "Commander" section remains empty, and the name of the former NIS head was moved to the "Former Commander" section.

"It is clear why there is no biography and why it was not published for so long. They were cleaning it up, so as not to write too much. The appointment is ambiguous; it was confusing for many law enforcement officers. The court fined Kontoleon's company for breaking laws. He does not have the necessary experience. Working in a private security company differs from working in an intelligence agency," one of the former law enforcement officials told Sputnik.

According to him, there are also questions about Kontoleon's education, and there are no answers yet.

A member of the Syriza party, Giannis Ragousis, said that no one guaranteed that the new head of NIS "will fulfill his national mission with respect for secrecy and with respect for the democratic nature of the service." According to him, the appointment is completely inexplicable, since Kontoleon absolutely did not meet the requirements for heading the NIS.

The Greek media immediately found Kontoleon's interview with the Security Manager magazine in 2008, in which he said that the Greek branch of G4S "today is the leading security service with more than 3,000 employees, 35 operations centers across the country and an annual turnover of more than 80 million euros for 2007."

G4S (formerly Group 4 Securicor) is a UK multinational security company headquartered in London.

According to Efimerida ton Syntakton newspaper, G4S, the world's largest security services company operating in more than 125 countries, has been charged and convicted of hundreds of violations of labor law, international law, and human rights in the countries where it was operating.

The newspaper reported that Kontoleon had started his career by guarding the transportation of money and in the US Embassy, where his father worked.

According to media reports, his father worked for the US Embassy for almost 30 years.

Efimerida ton Syntakton wrote that Kontoleon's career was like "chasing an American dream:" a person who lacked training was able to move up the corporate ladder and reach the top of the G4S company.

In recent years, and especially since the early 2000s, G4S has received contracts for some large projects. During the 2004 Olympic Games, it guarded facilities at Athens Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport, then provided services at regional airports, and from 2014-2015 it started providing electronic surveillance services ("bracelets") for convicts and detainees of the Ministry of Justice.

The Competition Commission fined G4S for the creation of a private security cartel. The investigation and trial lasted almost 18 years and ended in 2015. Violations were also found in the company's contract to protect the ISAP light metro lines in Athens.

With regard to Kontoleon himself, according to the newspaper, in 2019, the Court of First Instance issued a court decision on the payment of 2,000 euros for false testimonies. The defense planned to appeal this decision.

Kontoleon's university degree aroused most of the questions.

It turned out that the only degree from the Open University recognized by Greece is the degree for music education.

"Maybe the new NIS leader is a musician?" the newspaper wrote.

The newspaper also recalled that the NIS law defined the requirements for its chief, in particular, at least a bachelor's degree or equivalent foreign university degree and administrative experience in the public or private sector.

According to the media, Kontoleon has excellent relations with the embassies of the United States, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Israel. This is partly due to the fact that G4S installed security systems in the Guantanamo prison and in Israeli prisons for Palestinians in the West Bank.

According to some observers, Kontoleon's main task as NIS head will be to ensure internal security in Greece.

In this regard, the opposition has doubts that a man who comes from a private security firm will respect the democratic rights and freedoms of Greek citizens.

Syriza stated that this appointment "exposes the country to a number of serious dangers." It demanded an explanation from Mitsotakis and called for Kontoleon's removal from the post. The country's security and authority cannot and should not be a victim of irresponsible choices, the statement read.

However, it is unlikely that Mitsotakis' government will remove Kontoleon from his post at the request of political opponents.

"I do not think Mitsotakis will do it. It is impossible," a source close to the government told Sputnik.