EXCLUSIVE: EU Parliament paid thousands to Greek neo-Nazi MEP after criminal conviction

When neo-Nazi leaders of Greece’s Golden Dawn party were convicted of criminal organisation, illegal possession of weapons, involvement in the fatal stabbing of a left-wing rapper and brutal assaults, the verdict sent shivers through Europe’s far right and beyond. Some of its members fled and went into hiding.

But not Ioannis Lagos, one of its senior figures.

Elected to the European Parliament in 2019, Lagos continued attending legislative sessions, voting, speaking, and travelling between Greece and Belgium for six months as any other MEP would.

In October 2020, Lagos was sentenced to 13 years and eight months in prison for leading a criminal organisation and related charges.

After Lagos’ unprecedented sentence, the MEP enjoyed immunity privileges and received at least €30,000 in benefits from the Parliament until April 2021, according to new parliamentary documents seen by Euractiv.

Four people familiar with the case said Parliament found no legal basis to suspend his pay or mandate, as national jurisdictions are responsible for deciding whether to strip MEPs of their mandate in criminal cases.

Under the applicable Greek law at the time, Lagos’ conviction did not trigger the loss of his parliamentary seat.

Only part of his conviction was final. In addition, Greek authorities failed to take formal action to strip him of his political rights – though it was not clear whether such a step would have even been possible under Greek law that was valid at the time.

This procedural vacuum meant Lagos formally retained his seat and eligibility for MEP salary and benefits even after the Parliament eventually lifted his immunity in April 2021, and he was sent to prison. That didn’t stop the then-MEP from continuing to cast votes and file amendments and questions to the Commission from his jail cell.

Parliament has not disclosed how much Lagos and his staff cost the EU through the end of his mandate in July 2024. The institution refused to comment on “a specific case” and said that MEPs are entitled to “allowances that cover expenditure incurred in the performance of their parliamentary duties, requiring submission of receipts… and attestation of presence.”

“Just because Lagos’s cash-in was legal doesn’t mean it should have been,” said Luisa Izuzquiza of FragDenStaat, a Germany-based transparency NGO that obtained the Lagos files. “The fact that it was legal is the problem. His case shows a serious flaw in the system that needs fixing to prevent it from happening again.”

Accountability gaps

The case not only exposes how gaps in EU procedures allowed Lagos to remain on the EU payroll, but also highlights tensions over financial accountability and transparency in European institutions.

FragDenStaat first requested access to Lagos’s financial records in 2021, but the Parliament declined, citing privacy concerns.

The NGO took the case to the EU’s General Court, which in a 2024 ruling forced the institution to disclose more information on a case “of a highly exceptional nature.” The court said citizens have a legitimate interest in knowing “for what purpose and to which places Lagos and his parliamentary assistants made journeys” during a period in which the MEP had already been convicted but not yet imprisoned.

Parliament has still not provided detailed information on whether Lagos received the full MEP monthly salary (around €11,000 gross), general allowance (up to €4,950 per month for the MEP) and commuting reimbursement (€0,58 per kilometer for car journeys). It is also unclear whether his staff remained in place and continued to receive salaries after his conviction.

“The fact that the Parliament fought in court to keep these documents secret is a disgrace,” Izuzquiza said. “MEPs are elected representatives, and their allowances come from taxpayers. Transparency should be the rule, not a court-ordered exception.”

Lagos attendance

Between his conviction in October 2020 and his arrest in April 2021, Lagos received €28,974 in daily allowances, and approximately €1,700 in travel reimbursements between Greece and Belgium, documents show. It remains unclear whether he received also his full MEP monthly salary of €11,000 for that period.

The documents show Lagos claimed compensation for a total of 25 daily allowances for plenary sessions. Of these, Euractiv found that he recorded votes or interventions on 19 days (76%). Votes or interventions usually indicate clear participation in parliamentary work. There were five days (20%) with no recorded vote or intervention, and one day (18 January 2021) when a plenary session took place but no vote occurred.

Legal loopholes

In Brussels, Lagos’s situation fell into a grey zone because of Greece’s legal framework and EU procedures that did not envision such a case.

The charges the former MEP was convicted of include directing a criminal organisation and illegal weapons possession, Golden Dawn Watch, a Greek NGO monitoring the trial, told Euractiv.

Greek officials declined to comment on Lagos conviction and appeal, citing data protection rules, while Lagos’s lawyer did not immediately respond to Euractiv’s request for comment.

Though Greek authorities didn’t strip Lagos of his mandate at the time of his conviction, recent reforms would make it possible to do so.

Lagos appealed the conviction for criminal organisation and is due to appear in court on Friday, according to Golden Dawn Watch. His weapons conviction is final, however.

Lagos, who previously said the case against him was political, never relinquished his parliamentary office, which for most of his term was a Greek prison.

Miriam Sáenz de Tejada contributed to reporting.

The article has been updated to include a comment from the Parliament’s spokesperson service.

(mm, mk)