Foreign Ministry spokesperson Konstantinos Koutras made the following statement in response to journalists’ questions regarding Internet posts concerning the alleged abolition of the legislative framework of “Diavgia”:
“The proposed article of Law settles the problem of the non-clearance of specific expenditures of the Foreign Ministry, and of previous years, in fact. More specifically:
1. It concerns expenditures of the years 2013 and 2014, in the amount of €282,592.58, that, for reasons of bureaucracy, were not cleared. Specifically, it concerns 41 cumulative orders that were inadvertently not posted on the “Diavgia” Programme and a further 240 cumulative orders that were posted after the spending was carried out.
2. They are solely and exclusively expenditures of Missions Abroad. Most of them cover operating needs of the Missions and they fully satisfy all of the other legal and regulatory conditions. Moreover, they are at the disposal of any interested party.
3. There was no other way to correct the specific bureaucratic problem, other than the legal regulation.
4. The posting of the Foreign Ministry’s expenditures on Diavgia continues as usual, based on the existing legislation.
The Foreign Ministry is a leader on issues of transparency and will not tolerate or allow any financial blemish on its work.
December 21, 2015