Greek Health Minister Plevris Attacked with Yogurts

Greek Health Minister Thanos Plevris sought medical attention at a hospital emergency department on Sunday after being attacked by unknown individuals who threw yoghurts at him while he was dining with his family at an Athens restaurant.

The assailants were wearing face coverings.

According to a hospital announcement, Plevris was treated for an eye injury and released with instructions for home treatment, after being diagnosed with conjunctival edema and punctate apoptosis of the corneal epithelium on his left eye.

A former member of the ultraconservative party LAOS (ΛΑΟΣ), Thanos Plevris has served four terms as a member of Parliament since 2007 and joined New Democracy in 2012.

Plevris attributes attack to “cowardly leftists”

The sad incident was publicized by Plevris himself on Twitter.

He attributed the attack to “cowardly leftists.”

“While eating lunch at a meze restaurant in Petralona with my wife and children, cowardly leftists attacked me with yoghurts, getting my two children as well as me. This is who they are, aiming for me they hit my children with yoghurts,” the Health Minister wrote.

“This is how low they are. In front of my eight-year-old son, my 13-year-old daughter and my wife, they attack and hit, apart from me, my family. This is who they are,” he added in a follow-up tweet.

Μολις τώρα Τρώγοντας μεσημέρι σε μεζεδοπωλείο στα Πετραλωνα με την γυναίκα μου και τα παιδιά μου θρασύδειλοι αριστεριστές μου επιτέθηκαν με γιαούρτια πετυχαίνοντας εκτός από εμένα τα δυο μου παιδιά. Αυτοί είναι στοχεύοντας εμένα πέτυχαν με γιαούρτια τα παιδιά μου. Άθλιοι pic.twitter.com/uEESzpqiGs

— Θάνος Πλεύρης (@thanosplevris) April 30, 2023

Condemnation of the attack on Plevris

Minister of State and government spokesperson Akis Skertsos strongly condemned the attack on Plevris.

“An assault by cowardly fascistoids with their features concealed against Thanos Plevris, his wife and small children, in broad daylight, in a restaurant in Petralona, is a direct assault on democracy itself and the right of every citizen to walk abroad freely and feel safe,” Skertsos said.

Those who considered that there were “no-go” areas in Greece’s cities that belonged to them “are outside the democratic arc and constitute a threat to the rule of law,” he added, calling for the immediate condemnation of such phenomena by all the political parties.

Ex-Finance Minister Varoufakis attacked in Athens

This was the second attack on a prominent Greek politician recorded within few weeks.

In March, ex-Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis was also attacked by a group of unknown individuals in face coverings while dining at a restaurant in the Exarcheia neighborhood of Athens.

One person identified via CCTV was arrested the following day in relation to the assault.