'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,
It is impossible for a society that is economically pressured and a market that is bedeviled by over-taxation to lead the economy to a growth path. Without growth, it is impossible to create new jobs. In other words, the numbers prosper, even though the unemployment queues are endless.
The various institutions linked to the independent judiciary, which has been turned into a tool by ministers and MPs, usually tolerate and remain silent about the provocations to which they are subjected.
The Russian Church in a statement said that until the Church of Constantinople “annuls the illegal decisions it took, there can be no joint services with [Ecumenical Patriarchate] clergy”.
Rapes of women and suicide attempts by children are happening in Greece, the host country that has 60,000-70,000 migrants on its territory, and has received 1.6bn euros to manage refugee flows.
The voices in SYRIZA against the party’s junior coalition partner are hypocritical. They knew very well not just who they were governing with, but also with whom they embraced on election night and during the vote of confidence in parliament.
Τhe situation prevailing in Greek football has reached red alert. It is a stench for which FIFA and UEFA bear responsibility - The legal representative of Olympiacos placed the cleanup and the stench in the centre
The ideological and political differences between SYRIZA and the Independent Greeks were highlighted in their conflicting views on church-state relations, the law on same-sex partnerships, and a host of other social issues.
'Since the referendum was consultative, and not mandatory, it is now up to the Members of Parliament, chosen by the people, to make a decision respecting and following the interests of the citizens, the country and their personal duty,' Zaev told Ta Nea in an exclusive interview.
The Bavarian elections may signal the beginning of the end, and not just for a politician. When we are speaking about a Chancellor who has been in power since 2005, it would most certainly be the end of an era. It would have an impact beyond Germany.
In the framework of the 2014-2020 national programmes, Greece is entitled to 561mn euros, of which 322.8mn derive from the EU Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, and 238.2mn from the European Commission’s Internal Security Fund.
It is inconceivable for a minister whose portfolio is unrelated to foreign affairs to set a foreign policy different than that of the government, or to issue invitations and hand over cities to become foreign bases.
It is indicative that, based on data presented to parliament by the justice ministry, in the 2015-2018 period, there were 341 prisoners released based on handicaps, out of whom 323 availed themselves of the provisions of the Paraskevopoulos law.
Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos issued a thinly veiled call for the two countries to agree to take the issue to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
The country is being transformed into an aircraft carrier by those who had politically invested in anti-Americanism, depicted themselves as heralds of national independence, and described their political opponents as “Quislings” and “German collaborators”.
Yesterday, we learned that a minister can, unhindered, create a new defence dogma, decide alliances and plot out military bases in other countries, and be called to order politely by the prime minister, and no one reacts.
Something inconceivable is happening: The finance minister is on a road show in Hong Kong to lure investment, and the prime minister brushes off the central banker, and indeed unleashes targeted attacks against him.
European mechanisms which check and monitor banks with particularly tight oversight have created a mutually acceptable plan for reducing NPLs, and have concluded that it is adequate and viable, but the markets show with their stance that they do not trust it.
Athens has lodged complaints with both the EU and Turkey, in a bid to secure a tighter border, and that a representative of the European Commission visited Ankara in order to raise the issue with Turkish authorities.
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