Ex-king to speak next week
A day after the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Greece must pay three members of the former royal family 13.7 million euros in compensation for expropriated property, the government and the opposition kept sparring over the issue. The former king, Constantine, who said on Thursday that all he wanted was his home and not «small change,» said he would hold a press conference next Thursday. In a statement, «King Constantine, Former King of the Hellenes,» said he never wanted money «but only the right of every Greek to keep his home and the graves of his parents.» Responding to New Democracy party accusations that the government had brought the ECHR ruling upon Greece, government spokesman Christos Protopappas said, «It is better for ND to keep quiet, otherwise they will force us to remind them of the disgraceful deal of 1992, when they, in effect, gave the former king Mon Repos, Polydendri and… a large part of Tatoi.» ND spokesman Theodoris Roussopoulos said the government’s rejoicing over the compensation (which it considers low) was «a provocation to the Greeks.»
