Despite the reactions that arose for the reductions of the guards of former officials and politicians, the decision to remove those that the Police deemed not to be needed, on the basis of a risk assessment, is proceeding. The Minister of Justice and Public Order, Kostas Fytiris, has taken his decisions that will ultimately save 23 police officers, in two phases.
According to information from "F", the removal of the guard from former officials will be done as part of the new single procedure for the provision of police guarding, during which the Police proceeded to an updated risk assessment, based on which there are no reasons to continue the permanent guard. Therefore, the guarding of five former officials or spouses will end on October 5, 2026. The decision is based solely on the risk assessment and is not related to the official's status or institutional path.
The three former Presidents of the Parliament, Giannakis Omirou, Dimitris Syllouris and Marios Karoyan, are affected by the above practice, from whom the two police guards assigned to them will be removed, as well as the two wives of the former Presidents of the Republic, Elsie Christofia and Androulla Vassiliou, who each have a driver.
It is noted that initially, Mr. Karoyan was not included in the former Speakers of the Parliament who would lose their police officers, due to his party's participation in the Government. However, the data on the basis of the Police's recommendation changed, so the regulation that was in force is terminated.
It is noted that in the Parliament, there is an intention to legislate on what a President of the House is entitled to upon his departure after 5 years.
As for the former President of the Republic, Nicos Anastasiades, who currently has 12 police officers, things will change from next January with the removal of the static guard in his home and the installation of a closed circuit surveillance.
According to the decision that has been taken, in the context of the new unified procedure for the police guarding of Mr. Anastasiades, his escort of 6 police officers will be maintained. The guarding of the residence by another 6 police officers will continue until the installation of an electronic surveillance and early warning system, while from January 2027 it will be reinforced with frequent patrols of police vehicles.
With these data, the staff savings in the Police will amount to 23 in January, after the six police officers who were in charge of guarding the house of the Minister of Justice and the three police officers of the former president of EDEK have already left. Interim President Sofia Christodoulou has stated that she does not want a guard.
With the removal of the guards of the three former Presidents of the Parliament and the two police officers of the wives of the former Presidents, the savings will reach 17 police officers. If all six of N. Anastasiades are counted, then we have 23 police officers who will be able to take on other duties.
In the meantime, a decision has been made to grant two police officers to Odysseas Michailidis and Phidias Panagiotou because their movements have entered the Parliament. For the MEP, there is a footnote that when he is absent for his duties in the European Parliament, the two police officers will report to a police station.
