Eleftherios Oikonomou ( el, Ελευθέριος Οικονόμου; born 12 April 1956) is a former Chief of the

Hellenic Police The Hellenic Police ( el, Ελληνική Αστυνομία, ''Ellinikí Astynomía'', abbreviated ) is the national police service and one of the three security forces of the Hellenic Republic. It is a large agency with responsibilities ra ...

, and former Minister for Citizen Protection of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. Since 9 July 2019, he is the Deputy Minister for Citizen Protection, responsible for anti-crime policy, in the

Cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis The Cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis was sworn in on 9 July 2019, following the Greek legislative election in July 2019. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, leader of New Democracy, was sworn in as Prime Minister of Greece on 8 July. The government consists of ...

. He was born in 1956 in the town of

Konitsa Konitsa ( el, Κόνιτσα; see also names in other languages) is a town of Ioannina in Epirus, Greece. It is located north of the capital Ioannina and near the Albanian border. Northeast of Konitsa lies a group of villages known as the Zagoro ...

, in

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...

. In 1974, he was hired by the

Greek Gendarmerie The Hellenic Gendarmerie (, ''Elliniki Chorofylaki'') was the national gendarmerie and military police (until 1951) force of Greece. History 19th century The Greek Gendarmerie was established after the enthronement of King Otto in 1833 as the ...

(merged with the

Cities Police The Cities Police ( el, Αστυνομία Πόλεων) was a Greek police force extant from 1921 to 1984, responsible for policing urban areas. It complemented the Hellenic Gendarmerie, which was responsible for rural and suburban areas. Histo ...

to form today's Hellenic Police in 1984) and graduated from the Officers Academy; Oikonomou subsequently served for many years in the elite State Security Division (Διεύθυνση Κρατικής Ασφάλειας), responsible for protecting Greece's democratic form of government In 2001, he was appointed as the first Press Spokesman of the Police and the

Ministry of Public Order The Ministry of Citizen Protection ( el, Υπουργείο Προστασίας του Πολίτη) is the government department responsible for Greece's public security services, i.e. the Hellenic Police, the Hellenic Fire Service, Hellenic (C ...

, responsible for the Police's overall media strategy, a post he held until 2006; Early during his tenure, the police managed to destroy the

Revolutionary Organization 17 November Revolutionary Organization 17 November ( el, Επαναστατική Οργάνωση 17 Νοέμβρη, ''Epanastatiki Organosi dekaefta Noemvri''), also known as 17N or the 17 November Group, was a Greek far-left Marxist–Leninist urban ...

terrorist group, propelling Oikonomou to nationwide prominence. As a Police

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

he served as head of the Attica Aliens Directorate and First Deputy Director of the Attica Security Sub-Directorate until March 2008. Promoted to

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

, he was placed in charge of the Police VIP security directorate. On 3 March 2009 he was promoted to

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

and placed as Inspector General for Southern Greece, while on 5 November 2009 he was named Chief of the Hellenic Police. He held the post until 17 October 2011, when he was appointed General Secretary for Public Order. On 6 March 2012, he was appointed Deputy Minister for Citizen Protection in a reshuffle of the

Lucas Papademos Lucas Demetrios Papademos ( el, Λουκάς Παπαδήμος; born 11 October 1947) is a Greek economist and academic who served as 12th Prime Minister of Greece from November 2011 to May 2012, leading a national unity government in the wake ...

cabinet, and on 17 May 2012, he was named Minister of Citizen Protection in the

interim government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or f ...

Panagiotis Pikrammenos Panagiotis Pikrammenos ( el, Παναγιώτης Πικραμμένος, ; born 1945) is a Greek judge and politician who since 9 July 2019 serves as the Deputy Prime Minister of Greece. He briefly served as the caretaker Prime Minister of Gre ...

, a post he held until 21 June 2012. He is married and has one daughter.

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oikonomou, Eleftherios 1956 births Living people People from Konitsa Hellenic Police generals Hellenic Gendarmerie officers Ministers of Public Order of Greece