ANKARA

 "Legal" surveillance of the opposition Movement for Change (PASOK-KINAL) party's leader was wrong, the Greek prime minister said on Monday, insisting that he was unaware of the bugging.

In a televised address to the nation, Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he was informed only a few days ago that the National Intelligence Service (EYP) obtained legal authorization last September to wiretap the cellphone of Nikos Androulakis, who was then a member of European Parliament.

The remarks came three days after EYP head Andreas Kontoleon, along with prime minister's Secretary-General Grigoris Dimitriadis, resigned over the scandal that erupted last week when the former told a parliamentary committee that his agency had been spying on journalist Thanasis Koukakis.

The committee's closed-door hearing came after Androulakis complained to top prosecutors about an attempt to hack his cellphone with Israeli-made Predator tracking software.

Opposition parties, including SYRIZA-PS, PASOK-KINAL, MeRA25, and KKE, had urged the prime minister to bear the responsibility, and form an inquiry commission to investigate the scandal.

Mitsotakis said the wiretapping lasted only three months until Androulakis was elected the leader of PASOK.

“Although everything was done legally, the EYP underestimated the political aspect of this action. It was formally okay, but politically unacceptable,” Mitsotakis said.

This incident that shattered the public’s confidence in EYP should not have happened, he said, adding that he would not have allowed had he been aware of it.

However, reasserting the importance of the country's spy agency, he said: “I will be honest with you. There are many enemies of the country lurking around who would like a weak EYP.”

In response to the prime minister's remarks, Androulakis said Mitsotakis tried to paint himself as innocent by adopting the narrative of a "legal mistake," and attempted to justify a criminal act and violation of the constitution.

The opposition leader accused the premier of failing to give explanations for the "parastatal arm" formed by his administration.

Reiterating that he would not accept any cover-up, Androulakis said the public should know why he was put under surveillance in the first place.

SYRIZA-PS, the main opposition party, said in a statement that Mitsotakis did not explain the fundamental issues surrounding the scandal, including the use of Predator spyware, the wiretapping of Koukakis, and how many more journalists and politicians had been monitored.

"He did not have the courage to do the self-evident thing for every liberal European democracy. That is, to resign," it added.

Throwing the ball into the arena of "external enemies" and "hybrid threats" that "conspire against our homeland" is not enough to justify why the EYP was monitoring everything that has a heartbeat within the country, said former Finance Minister Yanis Varufakis' MeRa25 party in a statement.