Greek Minister Varvitsiotis Resigns Over Ferry Passenger Death

• Greek Minister of Shipping Miltiadis Varvitsiotis resigns after controversial remarks on TV.
• The ship’s captain and three crew members are facing criminal charges.
• The incident has stirred considerable outrage in Greece.
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Greek Minister of Shipping, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, has tendered his resignation following controversial remarks he made on television concerning the death of a man who was allegedly pushed off a ferry by crew members.

Varvitsiotis claimed that his comments, which seemed to support the ferry’s crew in the incident that occurred last Tuesday at the port of Piraeus in Athens, were misinterpreted.

The ship’s captain and three crew members are currently facing criminal charges in connection with the passenger’s death, identified as 36-year-old Antonis Kargiotis.

A video circulating on social media captured Kargiotis running onto the Blue Horizon ferry’s loading ramp as it was preparing to depart from Athens to Crete.

Crew members on the ramp appeared to physically prevent him from boarding, and the video suggests that he was subsequently pushed into the sea.

The ferry proceeded with its journey as planned but returned to port upon instruction from authorities, and Kargiotis’s body was later recovered from the water.

This incident has stirred considerable outrage in Greece.

Miltiadis Varvitsiotis faced substantial criticism for his remarks, with the Greek newspaper Ekathimerini labeling his statement as “completely misguided and highly regrettable.”

On Monday, Varvitsiotis used platform X (formerly known as Twitter) to express that Antonis Kargiotis’ death had deeply affected everyone. However, he also conveyed that he had become the subject of a “poisonous” onslaught after his statement had been “misunderstood.”