Former lawmaker Stelios Kouloglou has been pointing to possible Greek involvement
The European Parliament will hold a debate on Wednesday night following revelations that a former MEP, Stelios Kouloglou, was targeted with Pegasus spyware during the institution’s last mandate when he was working on a committee scrutinising the use of surveillance software.
Last week, researchers at The Citizen Lab were able to trace infections on Kouloglou’s phone throughout his time on the so-called PEGA committee. His device was hacked multiple times with Pegasus spyware, once ahead of a mission to Greece, which Kouloglou helped prepare, and another as the committees draft report was being finalised.
The Citizen Lab said they have no evidence of who might be behind the attacks at this stage. But the fact that an active MEP was targeted with spyware raises questions over the risks such software poses to independent democratic oversight.
Wednesday’s debate was requested by the Left and Greens group, and was only narrowly added to the plenary agenda after a vote on Monday afternoon. The centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) group, the largest political group in Parliament, largely voted against holding a debate.
