Former minister Avgenakis apologizes after alleged attack on airport staff

Former conservative minister Lefteris Avgenakis apologized on Wednesday after footage emerged showing him allegedly attacking an airport worker.

The incident is said to have occurred at Athens International Airport on Monday. Recordings that were circulated on Wednesday following a complaint by the airport union show Avgenakis verbally confronting the employee and then attacking him at his desk. There is no sound, however.

According to reports, the dispute broke out after the 51-year-old Nea Dimokratia MP was denied access to a flight to his native Crete in Heraklion after boarding had been completed.

In a statement posted on social media on Wednesday, Avgenakis said he was “sincerely sorry and apologized for the tension and disruption caused recently at the airport by an airline employee as I attempted to board my flight to Heraklion.”

However, the MP tried to downplay the matter as a “verbal incident”.

“I actually got into a verbal argument with a company employee who refused to let me board the plane, claiming that boarding was already complete, even though I could see with my own eyes that there were still passengers on the jetway,” he said.

“The employee repeatedly denied me the opportunity to communicate with his supervisor or any other responsible person at the airline as a last-ditch effort to complete my trip on time, prompting me to take the phone from his hand to speak myself. However, the incident was limited to disagreements and verbal tension.”

He expressed his surprise “at the exaggerations and inaccuracies circulating in recent media reports about an incident in which I was the subject of ‘brutal beatings,’ ‘fainting spells,’ and ‘physical attacks.'”

Speaking on Skai TV later on Wednesday, Avgenakis described the incident as “an inopportune moment” and said that resignation had “not been considered” because he had “publicly apologized to the employee.”

Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis condemned the incident, saying the prime minister could not accept an attitude of “do you know who I am?” Parliament Speaker Konstantinos Tasoulas demanded an explanation from Avgenakis, who is also a former vice-president of parliament.