Pirate Party of Greece
The Pirate Party of Greece is a political party in Greece. Initially based on the model of the Swedish Pirate Party, it supports reform of copyright law, the abolition of patents, and respect for privacy. In recent years, it has expanded its scope to a broader range of policy topics, such as its support for a fully secular state, the adoption of universal basic income, its opposition to militarism, nationalism, colonialism, and its drive for the further democratization of the European Union.
The party was founded on 14 January 2012. It was officially recognized on 10 February 2012, and had 480 members on that date.
In 2013, during its 2nd Congress, its members voted to remove an explicit reference to direct democracy from its principles, and it was the only European Pirate party that took such decision. The decision against Direct Democracy was reverted in the 12th Congress of June 2025 with the adoption of the Rethymno Declaration, which explicitly mentions direct and participatory democracy as a prerequisite for the strengthening of democracy and the rule of Law.
It was a full member of the Pirate Parties International and the European Pirate Party until June 2025, when its members unanimously voted to leave the two entities, citing ideological issues, a lack of political added value, and a lack of room for "constructive and productive political discourse".
History
May/June Legislative Elections 2012
In the 6 May 2012 Greek legislative election, the party managed to present candidates in 31 of the 56 constituencies and secured 0.51% of the total votes. Out of 32 parties, the Pirate Party came 19th. In the June 2012 election the party received 0.23% of the vote, coming 14th out of 21 parties.2nd Congress of 2013
In the 2nd Congress, the party's members voted to remove an explicit reference to direct democracy from its principles. This was reverted in the 12th Congress of 2025, with the adoption of the Rethymno Declaration.European Elections 2014
On 25 May 2014, the party participated in the 2014 European elections in a coalition with Ecologist Greens. The coalition received 0.90% of the vote. Noted that Ecologist Greens received in the May 2012 election 2.93% of the vote, and in the June 2012 election 0.88% of the vote. Their second half, Prasinoi, participated separately in the European elections and received 0.50%.European Elections 2019
In May 2019, the party participated in the 2019 European elections in a coalition with Popular Unity. The coalition received 0.56% of the vote.11th Congress of 2023
In November 2023, the party's 11th Congress adopted new, more comprehensive, Statutes and decided to expand its scope by trying to address areas such as education, healthcare, public administration, and immigration. In this Congress, marking a break from classic Pirate practice, it abolished the "not left, not center, not right" approach adopted by many other Pirate Parties, deeming it "neo-LePenist" and a backdoor for ideological and political derailment into the far-right.12th Congress of June 2025
On 1 June 2025, the 12th Congress of the party unanimously decided to furter expand and strengthen its Statutes, affirming its alignment with the progressive parties of the political spectrum, domestically and internationally; among other things, it explicitly strengthened in-party protections for people with disabilities, women, LGBTQI+ persons, and extending these protections to people outside the party. It also unanimously decided to leave the European Pirate Party and the Pirate Parties International, with its resignation pointing to a deep ideological and moral schism. Finally, it decided to replace the Uppsala Declaration with the Rethymno Declaration.The Rethymno Declaration
The Rethymno Declaration, adopted by the party in its 12th Congress of 2025, is its new official ideological manifesto, which supersedes the Uppsala Declaration. It complements its Statutes, as approved in 2025, and seeks to be a more concrete and coherent political and ideological document than the Uppsala Declaration, maintaining Pirate principles at its core.It begins with a sharp criticism of the transnational and international Pirate institutions for their inaction and silence on serious incidents of backslide in Press freedom, erosion of democracy and the rule of Law, lack of government accountability in Greece, the Gaza genocide, as well as procedural abuses by the leaderships of the PPEU and PPI to prevent any actual political discourse from taking place.
It then presents what the party views as the "seven plagues" of the Pirate Movement, before proceeding to make the case for an independent and radical Pirate Movement, and puts forward eight axes of political mobilization, which are further expanded upon:
- Human-Civil-Social Rights
- Strengthening of Democracy and the Rule of Law – Improvement of Public Administration
- Economic/Financial, Social, Gender, and Environmental Justice – Protection of Social Goods
- Free and Equitable Access to Education for All
- Digital, Intellectual, and Communication Rights
- A New Economic Model
- Active, Practical Opposition to Nationalism, Imperialism, and Militarism
- The European Vision of the New Pirate Movement