State Minister Nikos Pappas said that the decision of the Council of State (CoS) that ruled that the TV legislation for four TV licenses was unconstitutional would be respected. He lamented the decision to annul the auction depriving the state of the 255 million euros that it was to have received in an interview with the Greek National State and Radio Network (ERT).
Contrary to the opposition parties’ calls for his resignation following the CoS, Pappas said that he would continue in his role as state minister. He added that the annulment of the TV legislation did not mean that the situation would return to the previous situation where his predecessors signed over licenses without lining state coffers. He said that those who believe that free use of Greece’s airwaves should not delude themselves as the era of free broadcasting had come to an end in Greece.
The minister said he was waiting for the official decision of the CoS to be drafted on Thursday, and said that a “bridge” would be drafted for media outlets to follow until order is reinstated to the TV landscape. Hence, they would be offered provisional licenses for a fee, and he signaled that free use of airwaves had come to an end forever regardless of the CoS’s scrapping of the TV tender. With the annulment of the law and the action based on it, the government would create a new legislative initiative to be submitted in Greek Parliament on Monday.
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