Nikos Pappas: From the Recovery Fund to the Fund for the Few – Where Did the €120 Billion Go?

I cannot remain silent while a government that had a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the country chooses instead to manage the €120 billion from the Recovery and public funds as if they belonged to a private club. Instead of building an economy for the many, they created growth for the powerful few.

€120 billion to build an economy for the privileged

This was the moment to resolve long-standing structural problems in the Greek economy. Instead, 90% of the Recovery Fund’s loan component was allocated to very large businesses — those that already have access to capital. The government excluded small and medium enterprises, farmers, young professionals, and innovators.

Meanwhile, the trade balance worsens, private debt rises, and inequality deepens. This isn’t an unintended consequence — it is the result of deliberate policy choices.

If this was your vision, then yes — you succeeded

The national statistics authority (ELSTAT) makes things clear:

• Half of Greek households can’t cover basic expenses.
• Half of the population can’t afford even a three-day vacation.
• Rent, electricity bills, and mortgage payments are unaffordable for many.

If this is the model of “success” the government aimed for, then they are precisely on target.

 3,000 wealthy individuals declare €5 billion – and pay next to nothing in taxes

Let me speak plainly. 3,000 taxpayers in Greece declare a total of €5 billion in income. And this government has left them with an effective tax rate of about 5%.

By comparison, restoring the 13th salary for workers would cost just €750 million.

This is not simply economic inequality — it is state-sponsored injustice.

No VAT cuts on food, but yes on artwork?

We read in Kathimerini that a VAT reduction on artworks “reaches the consumer”, but that the same would not be true for food. Really?

Should we tell people to eat their feta cheese in a gilded frame — since at least art is eligible for a VAT reduction?

Let’s be honest: this is not about economic efficiency — it’s about protecting privilege.

Selective relationship with European institutions?

Following an initiative by my namesake, MEP Nikos Pappas, the European Parliament’s Petitions Committee will visit Greece. Will the government shut its doors again, as it did with the European Public Prosecutor and the Committee investigating wiretapping?

Will it continue hiding behind appointed judicial figures, like the President of the Supreme Court, who ruled against the exhumation of a victim — while grieving families seek only closure?

The “spending cap” is just a convenient lie

The government claims it cannot increase public spending due to a so-called “European fiscal rule”. But this is a misrepresentation of the facts.

The new fiscal framework does allow for fiscal space, provided that appropriate measures are taken. The truth is: you don’t want to act — because your political priorities lie elsewhere.

This isn’t about arithmetic. It’s about ideology.

My duty is to speak the truth you’re trying to bury

As long as we live in a country where the majority struggles while the wealthy go untouched, as long as growth appears only in PowerPoint presentations and not in everyday life, I will speak out.

And I will insist: progressive forces must unite. Fragmentation has been a gift to the Mitsotakis government. It is time to correct that.

We owe it to society. We owe it to the truth.

Source: pagenews.gr