Pirate Party of Greece Κόμμα Πειρατών Ελλάδας | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leader | Has no leader, but a Governing Board. |
| Founded | 14 January 2012; 13 years ago (2012-01-14)[1] |
| Headquarters | Athens |
| Ideology | Pirate politics Direct Democracy E-Democracy Anti-corruption Secularism |
| European affiliation | European Pirate Party (until 2025) |
| International affiliation | Pirate Parties International (until 2025) |
| Website | |
| pirateparty.gr | |
ThePirate Party of Greece (Greek:Κόμμα Πειρατών Ελλάδας) is apolitical party inGreece. Initially based on the model of the SwedishPirate Party, it supports reform ofcopyright law, the abolition ofpatents, 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 fullysecular state, the adoption ofuniversal basic income, its opposition tomilitarism,nationalism,colonialism, and its drive for the further democratization of theEuropean Union.[2]
The party was founded on 14 January 2012. It was officially recognized on 10 February 2012, and had 480 members on that date.[3] In 2013, during its 2nd Congress, its members voted to remove an explicit reference todirect democracy from its principles,[4] opting for a more general wording. However, the party kept an explicit reference to digital, participatory, direct democracy (as in combining all these three features) in its "About" page.[5] This decision was reverted in the 12th Congress of June 2025 with the adoption of the Rethymno Declaration,[6] which explicitly mentionsdirect andparticipatory democracy (i.e. the combination of the two) as a prerequisite for the strengthening ofdemocracy and therule of Law.
It was a full member of thePirate Parties International[7] and theEuropean 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".[8]
In the 6 May 2012Greek legislative election, the party managed to present candidates in 31 of the 56 constituencies and secured 0.51% (32,484) of the total votes.[9] Out of 32 parties, the Pirate Party came 19th. In theJune 2012 election the party received 0.23% of the vote (14,169), coming 14th out of 21 parties.[10]
In the 2nd Congress (2013), the party's members voted to remove an explicit reference to direct democracy from its principles, opting instead for a more general wording. This was reverted in the 12th Congress of 2025, with the adoption of the Rethymno Declaration.
On 25 May 2014, the party participated in the2014 European elections in a coalition withEcologist Greens. The coalition received 0,90% (51.573) of the vote.[11] Noted that Ecologist Greens (standalone with no coalition and before their breakup in two separate parties) received in the May 2012 election 2,93% (185.366) of the vote, and in the June 2012 election 0.88% (54.420) of the vote. Their second half, Prasinoi participated separately in the European elections and received 0.50% (28,460 votes).
In May 2019, the party participated in the2019 European elections in a coalition withPopular Unity.[12] The coalition received 0,56% (31.674) of the vote.[13]
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.[14] In this Congress, marking a break from classic Pirate practice, it abolished the "notleft, notcenter, notright" approach adopted by many other Pirate Parties, deeming it "neo-LePenist" and a backdoor for ideological and political derailment into the far-right.[15]
On 1 June 2025, the 12th Congress of the party unanimously decided to furter expand and strengthen its Statutes,[16] affirming its alignment with theprogressive 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[17] with the Rethymno Declaration.
The Rethymno Declaration, adopted by the party in its 12th Congress of 2025, is its new official ideological manifesto, which replaces 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 (PPEU andPPI) for their inaction and silence on serious incidents of backslide inPress freedom, erosion of democracy and the rule of Law, lack of government accountability inGreece, theGaza 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:
Among its many provisions is the reinstatement ofdirect andparticipatory democracy among the party's principles and in its platform, calling for government (local and central) decisions to be made "through open, equitable, inclusive, participatory procedures." The party explicitly cites direct and participatory democracy as a prerequisite for strengthening democracy and the rule of Law.
| Election | Hellenic Parliament | Rank | Government | Leader | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±pp | Seats won | +/− | ||||
| May 2012 | 32,519 | 0.51% | New | 0 / 300 | New | 19th | Extra-parliamentary | Collective leadership |
| Jun 2012 | 14,170 | 0.23% | −0.28 | 0 / 300 |  0 | 15th | Extra-parliamentary | |
| Jan 2015 | Did not contest | 0 / 300 | 0 | — | Extra-parliamentary | |||
| Sep 2015[a] | 15,282 | 0.28% | +0.05 | 0 / 300 | 0 | 14th | Extra-parliamentary | |
| 2019 | Did not contest | 0 / 300 | 0 | — | Extra-parliamentary | |||
| May 2023 | Did not contest | 0 / 300 | 0 | — | Extra-parliamentary | |||
| Jun 2023[b] | 15,911 | 0.31% | +0.03 | 0 / 300 | 0 | 15th | Extra-parliamentary | |
