FILE PHOTO: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras speaks with Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias during a parliamentary session before a vote following a motion of no confidence by the main opposition in dispute over a deal on neighbouring Macedonia’s name, in Athens, Greece June 16, 2018. REUTERS/Costas Baltas/File Photo
October 17, 2018
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias has submitted his resignation, Greece’s Skai TV reported on Wednesday.
There was no immediate confirmation from the government. Earlier, it had been widely reported Kotzias had clashed with Defence Minister Panos Kammenos over a deal brokering an end to a decades-old name dispute with Macedonia.
Kotzias was Greece’s main negotiator in the talks that led to the June accord with Skopje to rename the neighboring country North Macedonia.
That deal has however been thrown in limbo following a referendum in Macedonia on Sept. 30 which failed to muster a minimum turnout to render it valid.
Greek media reported on Wednesday that Kotzias and Kammenos, a coalition partner in the government, had argued during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday chaired by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.
Kammenos, who heads the small right-wing Independent Greeks party, is vehemently against the accord with Macedonia and has said he could quit the government over it.
(Reporting By Michele Kambas; editing by David Stamp)
