Thanos Plevris
MP
Minister for Health
In office
31 August 2021 – 26 May 2023
Prime MinisterKyriakos Mitsotakis
Preceded byVasilis Kikilias
Succeeded byAnastasia Kotanidou
Member of the Hellenic Parliament for Athens A
Assumed office
7 July 2019
In office
3 November 2014 – 25 January 2015
In office
4 October 2009 – 11 April 2012
In office
16 September 2007 – 3 July 2009
Member of the European Parliament for Greece
In office
3 July 2009 – 4 October 2009
Personal details
Born21 May 1977
Athens, Greece
Political partyNew Democracy (since 2012)
Popular Orthodox Rally (until 2012)
SpouseLena Papatheologou
Children2
Parent
Alma materUniversity of Athens
Heidelberg University
OccupationLawyer

Athanasios "Thanos" Plevris (Greek: Αθανάσιος "Θάνος" Πλεύρης; born 21 May 1977) is a Greek politician and son of author Konstantinos Plevris who served as the Minister for Health under the cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis from 2021 to 2023.[1] Plevris is often described as a radical right and islamophobic voice in Greek politics.[2][3][4]

Political career

He was first elected to the Hellenic Parliament with the ultraconservative Popular Orthodox Rally at the 2007 parliamentary election.[5] He was subsequently elected to the European Parliament in June 2009,[6] before returning to the national parliament at the election held in October of the same year. When the Popular Orthodox Rally failed to reach the electoral threshold of 3% at the May 2012 election, Plevris joined New Democracy[7] and became the party's first substitute after the election held the following month.

A few months after being elected to the Athens city council in May 2014,[8] he was sworn in as a member of parliament for the third time in November 2014, replacing Dimitris Avramopoulos[9] who had resigned his seat in order to serve on the European Commission. Plevris failed to be re-elected at the elections of January and September 2015, but returned to the legislature at the 2019 election.[10] He currently serves as Minister for Health in the Cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis.[11]

Plevris practices law in Athens, having completed postgraduate and doctoral studies in medical law at Heidelberg University and in criminal law from the University of Athens respectively.[12] He represented as lawyer the 8 police officers accused of brutality against Zak Kostopoulos.[13] He completed his military service as a sergeant in the 32nd Marines Brigade.[14]

Controversies

He is widely seen as a far-right figure in Greek politics and some of his opinions have been described as extreme and racist.[15][16] In the 1990s during his academic years he used to participate in nationalist protests and in at least one instance was caught on camera burning Turkish flags alongside supporters of the neo-nazi party Golden Dawn.[17] Plevris has also advocated the use of deadly force as a deterrent against illegal immigration.[18] He has also suggested that immigrants should be denied access to food, water and health care, in order to make their living conditions in Greece less attractive than those in their homelands.[19]

Antisemitism

While representing[20] his father in court in 2019, he argued that Konstantinos Plevris’s public desire to see the return of Nazis and the reopening of the Auschwitz concentration camps should not count as hate speech or incitement under Greek law.[21] After he was appointed as Minister for Health in 2021, some of this previous comments and statements resurfaced, resulting in a strong reaction by the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece.[1] They issued a statement expressing concern over the appointment of Thanos Plevris as minister of health in the cabinet reshuffle. Plevris later apologised and avowed his “absolute respect” for Holocaust victims and opposition to antisemitism.[22]

Vaccinations

In July 2021 he published an op-ed article expressing controversial opinions about mandatory vaccinations and asking “if a citizen does not want to be vaccinated, is it my responsibility to convince them or should they go and get vaccinated themselves?".[21][23] After his appointment in September 2021, some of his previous comments on scientific approaches and vaccination strategies resurfaced and were labelled as 'antivax'.[24][25]

References

  1. ^ a b "Jewish community seeks apology from newly appointed minister". www.ekathimerini.com. eKathimerini.com. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
  2. ^ Boukala, Salomi (2021-06-08). "'We need to talk about the hegemony of the left': The normalisation of extreme right discourse in Greece". Journal of Language and Politics. 20 (3): 361–382. doi:10.1075/jlp.19053.bou. ISSN 1569-2159. S2CID 233973202.
  3. ^ Vasilopoulou, Sofia; Halikiopoulou, Daphne (2013-12-01). "In the Shadow of Grexit: The Greek Election of 17 June 2012". South European Society and Politics. 18 (4): 523–542. doi:10.1080/13608746.2013.779784. ISSN 1360-8746. S2CID 154539450.
  4. ^ Populism and the Web : communicative practices of parties and movements in Europe. Mojca Pajnik, Birgit Sauer. Abingdon, Oxon. 2018. ISBN 978-1-315-10195-8. OCLC 1002303813.((cite book)): CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  5. ^ "Χορεύοντας με τη σκληρή ακροδεξιά..." www.kathimerini.gr. 14 October 2007. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
  6. ^ "Ευρωεκλογές - Ελλάδα: Ιστορική αναδρομή από το 1981 έως το 2014". euronews (in Greek). 2019-05-25. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
  7. ^ "New Greek health minister apologises for previous Holocaust remarks". euronews. 2021-09-02. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
  8. ^ "Καφετζόπουλος, Καρύδης, Ουρανία Μιχαλολιάκου, Πλεύρης στο δημοτικό συμβούλιο της Αθήνας". ProtoThema (in Greek). 2014-05-29. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
  9. ^ "Ex-LAOS MP Plevris takes parliamentary seat left vacant by EU commissioner Avramopoulos". www.ekathimerini.com. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
  10. ^ "ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΑ ΝΕΑ | ΕΚΛΟΓΕΣ 2019 | ΥΠΟΨΗΦΙΟΙ | ΨΗΦΟΔΕΛΤΙΑ". www.eklogika.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 2021-09-04.
  11. ^ "Greece appoints health minister who defended his father's desire to see Jews in Auschwitz". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 2021-09-02. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
  12. ^ "Βιογραφικά Στοιχεία". www.hellenicparliament.gr. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
  13. ^ "Police officers' lawyer complains over leak from Kostopoulos inquiry". ekathimerini. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  14. ^ Bio page from Plevris' official web site Archived 2008-10-15 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ "Μα, αλήθεια τώρα, έκαναν αυτόν τον άνθρωπο υπουργό Υγείας; | LiFO". www.lifo.gr (in Greek). 2021-09-03. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
  16. ^ "Θάνος Πλεύρης / Ένας αντιεμβολιαστής, ρατσιστής και ομοφοβικός στο υπουργείο Υγείας". Αυγή (in Greek). 2021-08-31. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
  17. ^ "Πλεύρης / Όταν διαδήλωνε μαζί με τους ναζί της Χρυσής Αυγής". Αυγή (in Greek). 2020-10-10. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
  18. ^ "Θ. Πλεύρης: Ζητούσε νεκρούς μετανάστες στη φύλαξη των συνόρων". Newsbomb (in Greek). 27 December 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  19. ^ Kostas Savvopoulos (11 April 2019). "Borders cannot be defended without dead (in Greek)". Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  20. ^ "Dancing with Greece's extreme right". www.ekathimerini.com. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
  21. ^ a b "It's OK to Want to Exterminate People, Greece's New Health Minister Once Argued". www.vice.com. 2 September 2021. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
  22. ^ "New Greek health minister apologizes over Holocaust remarks". AP News. 2021-09-01. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
  23. ^ "New Greek health minister apologizes over Holocaust remarks". The Independent. 2021-09-01. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
  24. ^ "Ανασχηματισμός: Ο Πλεύρης στο πόστο του Κικίλια - Το βίντεο για τα εμβόλια που 'ξέθαψε' ο ΣΥΡΙΖΑ". The TOC (in Greek). 2021-09-01. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
  25. ^ "Θάνος Πλεύρης: Οι προτροπές για νεκρούς μετανάστες και το αντιεμβολιαστικό κρεσέντο". www.news247.gr (in Greek). 31 August 2021. Retrieved 2021-09-04.

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