Eleftherios Oikonomou (; born 12 April 1956) is a former Chief of the

Hellenic Police The Hellenic Police (, ''Ellinikí Astynomía'', abbreviated ) is the national police service and one of the three security forces of Greece (the others being the Hellenic Fire Service and the Hellenic Coast Guard). It is a large agency with res ...

, and former Minister for Citizen Protection of

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. Since 9 July 2019, he is the Deputy Minister for Citizen Protection, responsible for anti-crime policy, in the Cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis. He was born in 1956 in the town of

Konitsa Konitsa (, see also Konitsa#Name, names in other languages) is a town of Ioannina (regional unit), Ioannina in Epirus (region), Epirus, Greece. It is located north of the capital Ioannina and near the Albanian Border crossings of Albania, border. ...

, in

Epirus Epirus () is a Region#Geographical regions, geographical and historical region, historical region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay ...

. 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 Otto of Greece, King Ot ...

(merged with the

Cities Police The Cities Police () was a Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assu ...

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, 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 terrorist group, propelling Oikonomou to nationwide prominence. As a Police Brigadier General 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, 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 military rank 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 battlefield, who was norma ...

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 (; born 11 October 1947) is a Greek economist and academic who served as Prime Minister of Greece from November 2011 to May 2012, leading a national unity government in the wake of the Greek government debt crisis, Greek ...

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, a transitional government or provisional leadership, is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse, revolut ...

Panagiotis Pikrammenos Panagiotis Pikrammenos (, ; born 1945) is a Greek judge and politician who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Greece from 2019 to 2023. He briefly served as the Caretaker Cabinet of Panagiotis Pikrammenos, caretaker Prime Minister of Greec ...

, 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