The Alternate Minister of Migration Policy Yannis Mouzalas has caused a crisis within the coalition government after calling FYROM “Macedonia” in a television interview on Tuesday.
In a later radio interview on Athina 9.84 FM Mr. Mouzalas later apologized for his “gaffe” and explained that he did not realize his error at the time.
The Minister of National Defense and leader of coalition government partners Independent Greeks Panos Kammenos however called for the resignation of the M. Mouzalas. Mr. Kammenos has called an emergency meeting of his party’s parliamentary group for Thursday.
Main opposition party New Democracy also demanded that Mr. Mouzalas steps down, arguing that his major faux pas is undermining Greece’s position in relation to the naming dispute with FYROM.
Likewise, PASOK demanded that the Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras himself takes a stand on such a major issue, since Mr. Mouzalas violated a national policy that has been observed for decades. PASOK noted that this was either a criminal mistake that a minister is not allowed to make, or his personal opinion.
The River however took a different stance and opposed the calls for Mr. Mouzalas’ resignation, explaining that the country has greater problems at hand to deal with than of a Minister’s slip of the tongue. Furthermore, the River accused New Democracy and the Independent Greeks of nationalist fearmongering.
The government responded by underlining that the neighboring country is officially only referred to by its internationally recognized name – FYROM. As such, the government argues, any attempt to focus on the Minister’s error hypocritically and irresponsibly aims to undermine his efforts in relation to the refugee crisis, ahead of a critical European summit no less.
