Greece’s governing center-right party evicts lawmaker after airport altercation over flight boarding

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s governing center-right party has booted out a lawmaker and former minister who allegedly manhandled an airport worker in a failed bid to board a domestic flight he’d turned up late for. Lefteris Avgenakis, who has held the sports and agriculture portfolios, apologised over the incident earlier this month at Athens International Airport. He denies using physical violence against the employee, saying there had been only “verbal tension.” Footage on social media from an overhead video purportedly showed Avgenakis, a lawmaker with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ New Democracy party, trying to snatch the employee’s phone during the altercation. Following his eviction Wednesday, New Democracy will have 157 lawmakers in the 300-seat house.