Panos Kammenos

With time impasses became apparent as did the fundamental differences between the two unsuited ruling coalition partners.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras revealed he will seek a parliamentary vote of confidence if Defence Minister Panos Kammenos withdraws his trust.

Having served the purposes of the prime minister, the leader of the Independent Greeks, Defence Minister Panos Kammenos, is being discarded and pushed aside.

The prime minister has said that right after ratification of the Prespa Accord, the government will table in Parliament the Protocol on FYROM’s admission to Nato, which the legislatures of all of the Alliance’s member-states must approve.

Tsipras revealed that days after the planned ratification of the Prespa Agreement he will table for a vote the Protocol regarding FYROM’s Nato accession.

Admiral Apostolakis spoke of “razing” any Greek rock islet that Turkish troops may dare to land on, and Kammenos spoke of a “crushing defeat”

the government has managed to transform the Greece-FYROM Prespa Agreement into a domestic problem that has divided society and the government itself.

If Panos Kammenos resign only after it the Prespa Accord is tabled in the Greek Parliament, that would allow PM Alexis Tsipras to put off the ratification for as long as he believes Kammenos is useful in the government.

In essence, the deputy premier is confirming the statement of Defence Minister Panos Kammenos, who in July, 2015, had placed the Hellenic Armed Forces in a state of readiness in order to ensure domestic security, as he said.

Kammenos was sued by Miranda Xafa and Haris Makkas for slander, after he had claimed that they profited from inside information on Greece’s bankruptcy by buying and then selling Credit Default Swaps.

Varoufakis reiterated the claim in his book on his tenure as finance minister, Adults in the Room, that Soros in June, 2015, “picked up the phone to ask Tsipras to sack me”.

'He [Kammenos] spoke of secret funds. He also said that Soros is funding the government to buy off foreigners [to pass the Greece-FYROM Prespa Agreement],' ex-foreign minister Kotzias said in an interview.

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

Obviously, all governments internationally use black payments for what they view as national objectives. Whether these objectives actually serve national interests depends on the motives, clear judgment, and integrity of those who manage the secret funds.

It is by now obvious that the only thing that concerns Mr. Tsipras is to extend as much as possible his stay in power. That is why he had no dilemma in choosing between Kotzias and Kammenos when they clashed openly at the cabinet meeting.

SYRIZA ministers have said that, even without Kammenos, the government can muster an absolute majority both for ratification of the Prespa Agreement, and for a possible no-confidence motion by main opposition New Democracy.

Defence Minister Panos Kammenos assumed the mantle of foreign minister and presented his own plan for a Balkan alliance, supported by creating new American bases in Greece.

The PM’s office, Parliament Speaker Nikos Voutsis, and many SYRIZA cadres distance themselves from Kammenos’ statements and described them as inexplicable, though for some time there has been talk about expansion of the US military presence in Greece.

Kammenos maintained that the American military presence in Greece could bolster Greece’s defence policy, with the transfer of knowhow, in a period in which new threats are arising.