The tragedy, which claimed 57 lives in February 2023, has left an indelible mark on Greek society, and the government is now facing its most severe political crisis in years, with approval ratings at historic lows for Mitsotakis' six-year tenure.
In just 39 minutes of televised airtime, the Prime Minister dismantled key elements of his government’s narrative over the past two years.
However, he stopped short of accepting personal responsibility and dismissed any possibility of resignation. Most notably, he reversed his administration’s previous claims regarding:
- The existence of illegal cargo and an explosion.
- The justification for clearing debris at the crash site—now admitting it «may have been a mistake».
- The handling of the parliamentary inquiry into the disaster, which was led by his own party, New Democracy.
Mitsotakis vs. Mitsotakis
The most striking aspect of the interview was that Mitsotakis found himself contradicting his own statements from two years ago. Shortly after the disaster, he had dismissed any suspicions about the train’s cargo, labeling such concerns as «conspiracy theories».
However, newly released audio evidence paints a different picture. According to forensic experts, at least 30 of the 57 victims did not die from the initial collision but from a fire that erupted afterward.
The much-anticipated report from Greece’s National Technical University (NTUA) is expected to confirm that the explosion was caused by an unidentified substance, rather than oil from the train’s engine, as Mitsotakis had previously claimed. Faced with these revelations, the Prime Minister was forced to walk back his earlier statements.
Attempting to deflect blame, he pointed fingers at Greece’s national railway agency (OSE) and the private operator Hellenic Train, arguing that they had assured him there was no illegal cargo on board that could have triggered the fire.
However, he failed to explain how a Prime Minister could confidently make such a statement to the public based solely on the word of the very organizations responsible for railway safety. Even more troubling, he did not address why—if hazardous materials such as xylene or another solvent were present—anyone would have expected the companies involved to openly admit it.
More alarmingly, Mitsotakis acknowledged—two years after the fact—that the country’s deadliest train disaster may have been linked to an illegal fuel smuggling ring.
Despite this, his government’s response has been marked more by efforts to suppress information than by attempts to hold those responsible to account.
Political Sacrifices
As he sought to distance himself from the scandal, Mitsotakis appeared willing to throw nearly everyone under the bus—except himself. Unlike his Serbian counterpart, who resigned after a similar railway tragedy, Mitsotakis has chosen to weather the storm, following the well-worn political playbook of leaders under siege.
- He effectively abandoned his former Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis, signaling that he could now face repercussions in a parliamentary inquiry. This, despite the fact that just three months after the disaster, Mitsotakis had included him on New Democracy’s electoral candidate list, even after accepting his resignation in the wake of the tragedy.
- He left other key figures, including former Deputy Minister Christos Triantopoulos and ex-Regional Governor Kostas Agorastos, exposed to public outrage over their alleged role in the rapid clearance of the crash site, which may have destroyed critical forensic evidence—including, according to reports, human remains.
- He even turned on his own party’s parliamentary committee, led by MP Dimitris Markopoulos, blaming them for a botched investigation that only intensified accusations of a government cover-up. However, Mitsotakis sidestepped a crucial question: Who instructed the committee to wrap up its work hastily, without calling key witnesses who could have shed light on the true causes of the tragedy?
Mitsotakis’ attempt to contain the political damage seems to have backfired. His intervention not only failed to close the wounds of the disaster but also opened new rifts—both within his own party and among the Greek public. Instead of providing clarity, his statements raised even more questions about the government’s handling of the tragedy.
As one political analyst noted a year after the disaster, «Tempi is, and will remain, an open wound for Mitsotakis». And after last night’s interview, that wound is far from healing. If anything, politically speaking, it has just been reopened.
