[Civil Protection Ministry]
Vassilis Papageorgiou, General Secretary for Civil Protection, has resigned, stating that the primary purpose of his decision aims to facilitate Greece’s judicial investigation into the Tempe railway disaster just over two years ago.
Papageorgiou submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday. He faces charges for possible tampering with the site of the accident.
The disaster, a head-on collision between a passenger train and a freight train, claimed 57 lives and left many seriously injured. It has sparked widespread public unrest and demands for justice.
The center-left PASOK party is set to file a no-confidence motion against the government on Wednesday, citing failures in railway safety and disaster response following the 2023 crash. The motion is expected to be backed by leftist SYRIZA and other opposition parties, triggering a three-day parliamentary debate.
A report released last week by the Hellenic Aviation and Railway Safety Investigation Agency (HARSIA) highlighted critical safety lapses and government mismanagement.
“I will make every effort to prove that I had no responsibility for any operational acts or omissions concerning the accident site,” Papageorgiou stated in his resignation letter.