A group of 50 Greek bloggers is due in Brussels today for talks with European Commission officials on issues of freedom of expression on the Internet, personal data protection and the protection of online shoppers from fraud.

The bloggers are visiting the seat of the EC as part of an initiative organized by the main opposition PASOK to boost the freedom of Greek bloggers.

“There is such indifference in Greece about this issue, so we are going to have direct talks about it with experts at the EC,” Nikos Vassilakos, president of the Association of Hellenic Internet Users (EEXI), told Kathimerini. “I am going to meet with a few people and then prepare a file when I get back and return for more talks,” Vassilakos said, adding that he felt the outlook in Brussels would be helpful. “I am sure the thinking there will be clearer, not so steeped in scandal,” he said.

Vassilakos expressed exasperation at news of a 2.1-billion-euro project to lay down fiber optic cables for 2 million Greek households when authorities have WiMAX – a wireless technology – that could have provided Internet access to homes long ago. “They got WiMAX out of the drawer to get Mount Athos online though,” Vassilakos remarked, refering to a recent project connecting the monastic communities to the Internet.

The bloggers said they were unconcerned at the fact that the three-day trip is being organized by PASOK and were keen to take advantage of the opportunity. “The participants are not all of the same political affiliation and the main thing is that the trip is a very interesting proposal,” said a blogger, called nikan, who is going on the trip. “It is great chance to bridge an information gap, as now everything we learn is from small articles in the press,” nikan said, adding that it is a more appealing prospect “to get one’s updates from the source.”

In March, Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis denied opposition accusations that the government is seeking to clamp down on the freedom of Internet users in the wake of a probe into a news blog that prompted defamation suits from government politicians. At the time, PASOK leader George Papandreou had accused the government of “viewing every young person with a computer as a potentially dangerous blogger.”