English edition

As much as the prime minister may try to reshuffle the deck of the SYRIZA-Independent Greeks collaboration, nothing will change in essence.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has declared that, “The Turkish government is not about to allow Greece to extend its territorial waters to 12 nautical miles.”

'Although Greece has the fiscal space this year, it is not sufficiently large to completely cancel pension cuts that have been agreed upon,' said ESM chief Klaus Regling

Individuals in the prosecutor’s circle speak of the constant interventions of a minister, who is described as 'Rasputin', and who 'with the demeanour of a pimp dictates how cases should be handled'.

Allegations that the US spent two million dollars to secure votes in FYROM’s parliament to back the Prespa Agreement must be answered by the US Ambassador

The charges of former Corruption Crimes Prosecutor Eleni Raikou reveal the breadth of raw governmental meddling in the judiciary

The leader of Plefsi Eleftherias says that Kotzias’ resignation exposes a government that conducts foreign policy in a dangerous, incoherent manner that harms Greece

The episodic 16 October cabinet meeting highlighted not only divergent strategies, but also the concealed discord and clashes that are unbefitting a coalition that determines the fate of the country.

What is of concern is what two ministers said in a cabinet meeting about the management of the state’s black budget and other funds, and that requires immediate investigation.

Kotzias said a mudslinging campaign has been unleashed against  him and against the responsibility of a politician to resign when he disagrees.

How can one encourage Greek families to bear more children, when benefits for families with three or more children are viewed as luxury, and have been eliminated?

It is not just the foreign ministry that manages secret funds. The defence ministry disburses comparable amounts, as do Greek Police, the Macedonia-Thrace ministry, and others.

Ankara has marshaled the NAVTEX in an effort to dispute Cyprus’ EEZ and the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus, the only internationally recognised state entity on the island.

'Mr. Kammenos, who accused Mr. Kotzias of non-transparent procedures in disbursing the secret funds of the foreign ministry, must immediately make public whatever evidence he may have,' main opposition New Democracy declared.

With ministers accusing each other in a cabinet meeting and the prime minister allowing himself to be held hostage, we are dealing with nothing less than a government in decay.

The latest events confirm that all the planning of the PM’s office is up in the air. The prime minister is unable to determine developments, and the situation in the government camp is completely unforeseeable, as many cadres are acting with a view to the next day.

Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias has tendered his resignation to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who immediately accepted it and announced that he will assume the portfolio. The resignation comes straight on the heels of yesterday’s stormy cabinet meeting, during which Kotzias lambasted Defence Minister Panos Kammenos, Tsipras’ junior coalition partner, after Kammenos on an official visit to Washington trashed the government’s Greece-FYROM Prespa Agreement and presented his own “Plan B”. Following a vitriolic exchange, Kotzias stormed out of the cabinet meeting and two hours later, at his request, was received by President Prokopis Pavlopooulos, with whom he had an hour-and-a-half discussion. It is believed that he signaled his intentions to Pavlopoulos. In announcing today that he will assume the foreign affairs portfolio, a clearly unsettled Tsipras declared – in a clear message to Kammenos - that he will tolerate no double-talk or personal agendas on the part of ministers, and in a clear message to Greece’s allies, he strongly stressed his unswerving support for the “historic” Prespa Agreement and FYROM PM Zoran Zaev’s feverish efforts this week to pass in parliament the constitutional amendments required by the accord. Kotzias was reportedly enraged by Tsipras’ decision to keep an equal distance from his two ministers, even though Kotzias for months had conducted the arduous negotiation that led to an agreement that Tsipras fiercely defends and touts as an historic achievement. At the cabinet meeting, Kotzias ripped into Kammenos, charging that the defence minister is actively undermining the interests of Greece and the government. Late last night and this morning Kotzias’ associates signaled his intense annoyance and indicated that he was considering resigning. Those leaks triggered a decisive public reaction by government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos, who repeated the late prime minister Andreas Papandreou’s famed quote that “whoever cannot endure should get off the train”, a thinly veiled allusion to Kotzias. That statement strongly suggests that Tsipras had already had taken his decision to sacrifice Kotzias in order to save his coalition with Kammenos. That appears to have been the straw that broke the camel’s back. Some said that Kotzias was a step closer to resigning and others that Kotzias was already gathering his personal effects in the ministry. Government cadres are said to have aligned themselves with the substance of Tzanakopoulos’s message. Kotzias was reportedly enraged by Tsipras’ decision to keep an equal distance from himself and Defence Minister Panos Kammenos, even though Kotzias for months had conducted the arduous negotiations that led to the Prespa Accord, which Tsipras fiercely defends and touts as an historic achievement.

“The Prime minister cannot hang out to dry the foreign minister, who negotiated the Prespa Agreement, which is national policy,” sources close to Kotzias said.

Mr. Tsipras, with his secret meetings and subterranean arrangements with his coalition partner, is trying to extend his stay in office as much as possible, but it is by now clear to everyone, even to his ministers, that he can persuade no one.

Kammenos yesterday that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was aware of his views on a Plan B for FYROM and US bases, but disagreed. Still, he expressed them in a formal meeting with US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, leaving the impression that he is carving out his own foreign policy,