The European Commission Executive Vice President Raffaele Fitto denies EU funds have been assigned to the controversial reconstruction of Athens’ Prosfygika housing block. In a written response to MEP Maria Zacharia’s inquiry, he revealed Greek officials have not even applied and thus “no operation has been selected for EU funding.”
He further underlined it is illegal to use EU’s cohesion fund for “actions contributing to the segregation, isolation or exclusion of vulnerable groups.” The project led by the Attica Region has been marketed on two premises which now both seem false: that the housing block is empty, and that €15 million in EU funds would enable its renovation.
Fitto’s revelation comes a week after Athens municipality withdrew from the project, following escalating hunger strikes and protests led by the Community of Occupied Prosfygika. Organizing over 400 residents, the Community maintains it is best placed to guarantee their wellbeing, highlighting that Greece has virtually no social housing.
