Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias submitted his resignation Wednesday, a day after a tense cabinet meeting during which he clashed with Defense Minister Panos Kammenos over the Prespes accord.



Sources told Kathimerini that Kotzias was disgruntled over the fact that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras failed to support him against attacks from Kammenos, who is also junior coalition partner.



According to the same sources, during Tuesday’s cabinet meeting Kammenos accused Kotzias of mismanaging secret foreign ministry funds and being a man of US billionaire financier George Soros.



Aides close to the foreign minister said Kotzias had been “deeply offended” by the allegations.



It was not immediately clear if Tsipras would accept his resignation.</s>ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Greece's foreign minister resigned Wednesday following a disagreement with the defense minister over the handling of a deal for Greece to drop its objections to neighboring Macedonia joining NATO if the small country's name is changed.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accepted Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias' resignation announced he would take over the helm of the Foreign Ministry himself "to help with all his powers in the successful completion" of the name change deal, his office said.

Kotzias quit his post a day after a Cabinet meeting during which he reportedly had a heated argument with Defense Minister Panos Kammenos over the Macedonia deal and felt he didn't receive sufficient support from colleagues or the prime minister.

"The PM and a series of ministers made their choices in yesterday's (cabinet) meeting, and then I made mine," Kotzias wrote on Twitter.

Speaking to reporters later, Tsipras warned he would not tolerate disagreements within his government on the deal with Macedonia, which settled a decades-long dispute and which Tsipras negotiated with his Macedonian counterpart.

"(I will) not put up with any double talk from anybody or with any personal strategies," Tsipras said.

Kammenos, who heads the governing coalition's junior party, opposes the agreement reached in June and has threatened to leave the coalition if the pact comes to parliament for ratification.

Kotzias was angered by statements the defense minister made during a recent trip to the United States that raised the possibility of an alternative to the name deal, countering current Greek government and U.S. policies.

Under the agreement that remains several steps from completion, the country would change its name to North Macedonia in return for the chance to join NATO and the European Union.

The name deal has also met with opposition in Macedonia, where lawmakers were debating whether to start discussions on constitutional amendments required for agreement's enactment.

The amendments need a two-thirds vote in parliament for approval and currently are several lawmakers short of passage. They could be put to a vote as soon as Friday.

The conservative opposition VMRO-DPMNE party said Wednesday its lawmakers would not participate in a "sterile" debate and intended to vote against the constitutional changes when the time came.

VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski explained the party's opposition in a reply to a U.S. assistant secretary of state who wrote him Tuesday to "set aside partisan interests" and work to get the name change approved.

"I hope that the Republic of Macedonia will be very soon a part of the NATO and EU families, but proud and dignified, not humiliated, disfigured and disgraced," Mickoski wrote.

After his top diplomat's resignation, Tsipras said Greece would "never" allow Macedonia to join the EU or NATO under its current name. Macedonia should complete the constitutional amendment process "because (it will be offered) no other opportunity," he said.

Since Macedonia declared independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991, Greece has blocked the young republic's path to NATO membership over objections to its use of the term Macedonia, arguing it implied a territorial claim on Greece's own northern Macedonia province.</s>Athens, Greece - Greek foreign minister, Nikos Kotzias, has resigned a day after he clashed publicly with the country's defence minister.

Kotzias, who served two terms as the foreign minister since first being appointed in January 2015, submitted his resignation on Wednesday and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accepted it shortly after.

During a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Kotzias and defence minister Panos Kammenos, leader of the right-wing junior coalition partner, the Independent Greeks (ANEL), clashed over several issues.

At that meeting, Kammenos lashed out at Kotzias over the Macedonia name accord signed on Lake Prespa in June, sources told the Greek daily Kathimerini.

The sources also said that the defence minister accused the Kotzias of mismanaging funds and being affiliated with Hungarian-American billionaire and philanthropist George Soros, the daily reported.

Kotzias' resignation comes amid growing instability in Greece's governing coalition, much of it stemming from the historic name agreement signed on June 17.

The state-run media outlet ANA-MPA reported that Tsipras will "take over the leadership of the foreign ministry in order to assist in the successful conclusion of the Prespes Agreement with all his power".

In a Twitter post following his resignation, Kotzias wrote, "The moment comes when you decide who you are going to go with and who you will leave behind."

He went on to say that he arrived at the decision after Tsipras and other ministers "made their choice" during the cabinet meeting a day earlier, quoting Greek poet Dinos Christianopoulos: "They did everything possible to bury me, but they forgot that I am a seed."

In a press release from the prime minister's office on Wednesday afternoon, Tsipras said: "It is with a heavy heart that I accept his resignation."

Tspiras went on to insist that his government will "never" accept Skopje's ascension to the European Union or NATO "under the constitutional name the Republic of Macedonia".

In 1991, Skopje broke away from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. With the newly-born country deeming itself the Republic of Macedonia, it soon found itself at loggerheads with Athens.

The dispute enabled Greece, which accused the former Yugoslav country of attempting to appropriate its history and harbouring territorial designs, to block Macedonia's ascension into the European Union and NATO for decades.

In 1993, Greece's northern neighbour was admitted into the United Nations as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), but today more than 140 countries refer to it simply as Macedonia.

After a renewed drive to resolve the dispute, Kotzias and his Macedonian counterpart, Nikola Dimitrov, signed an accord that allowed for the country to change its name to "Republic of Northern Macedonia" in June.

But on September 30 a referendum in Macedonia, which allowed voters to voice their position on changing the country's name, casted doubt on the future of the agreement.

Opposition parties had called for a boycott, and the referendum's passing was marred by low voter turnout. On Monday, the Macedonian parliament launched a debate over the constitutional changes required in order to implement the change.

In Greece, the deal has sparked widespread backlash across much of the political spectrum, including conservative parties, the ultra-nationalists and even some leftists.

Throughout 2018, Greece has witnessed a spate of protests against the deal, some of which included incidents of violence.

In late January, during a 300,000-person protest against the negotiations, a group of black-masked demonstrators set ablaze a pair of squatted social centres in Thessaloniki and vandalised the city's Holocaust memorial.

The following month, an estimated 140,000 people attended a similar protest in Athens. Days before that rally, Kotzias reportedly received a number of death threats, including an envelope bearing bullets.

In June, Kotzias told a local radio station that more than 800 death threats had been issued against him and his family.

Some analysts have argued that anger over the name agreement has provided Greece's previously embattled far right with an opportunity to catapult itself into the mainstream political conversation.

"My sense is that [the agreement] is likely to go through," Seraphim Seferiades, a politics professor at the Panteion University, told Al Jazeera.

"That would be good because it would put this issue to rest and take the opportunity away from the far right."</s>ATHENS, GREECE—The foreign minister of Greece resigned Wednesday following a disagreement with the defence minister over the handling of a deal for Greece to drop its objections to neighbouring Macedonia joining NATO if the small country’s name is changed. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accepted Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias’ resignation and intends to take the helm of the Foreign Ministry himself “to help with all his powers in the successful completion” of the name change deal, his office said.

Kotzias quit his post a day after a Cabinet meeting during which he reportedly had a heated argument with Defence Minister Panos Kammenos over the Macedonia deal and felt he didn’t receive sufficient support from colleagues or the prime minister. “The PM and a series of ministers made their choices in yesterday’s (cabinet) meeting, and then I made mine,” Kotzias wrote on Twitter. His resignation letter was not immediately made public. Speaking to reporters later, Tsipras warned he would not tolerate disagreements within his government on the deal with Macedonia, which settled a decades-long dispute and which Tsipras negotiated with his Macedonian counterpart.

“(I will) not put up with any double talk from anybody or with any personal strategies,” Tsipras said. Kammenos, who heads the governing coalition’s junior party, opposes the agreement reached in June and has threatened to leave the coalition if the pact comes to parliament for ratification. Kotzias was angered by statements the defence minister made during a recent trip to the United States that raised the possibility of an alternative to the name deal, countering current Greek government and U.S. policies. Under the agreement that remains several steps from completion, the country would change its name to North Macedonia in return for the chance to join NATO and the European Union. The name deal has also met with opposition in Macedonia, where lawmakers were debating whether to start discussions on constitutional amendments required for agreement’s enactment.

The amendments need a two-thirds vote in parliament for approval and currently are several lawmakers short of passage. The conservative opposition VMRO-DPMNE party has vowed not to support the deal. The U.S. Assistant Secretary of state in charge of European and Eurasian affairs wrote the party’s leader, Hristijan Mickoski, to express dismay over VMRO-DPMNE’s position. Wess Mitchell urged Mickoski in a letter Tuesday to “set aside partisan interests” and “secure a brighter future for your citizens among the European family of nations.”

Mickoski replied by reiterating his party’s position that the deal with Greece was “detrimental to the interests of my nation” and “unacceptable.” “I hope that the Republic of Macedonia will be very soon a part of the NATO and EU families, but proud and dignified, not humiliated, disfigured and disgraced,” Mickoski wrote. Tsipras, speaking to reporters shortly after Kotzias’ resignation, said Greece would “never” allow Macedonia to join the EU or NATO under its current name. Macedonia should complete the constitutional amendment process “because (it will be offered) no other opportunity,” he said. Since Macedonia declared independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991, Greece has blocked the young republic’s path to NATO membership over objections to its use of the Macedonia name. Greek governments argued the name implied a territorial claim to Greece’s northern Macedonia province.</s>ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek foreign minister resigns after disagreement over Macedonia name change deal; prime minister to take over ministry.</s>Kotzias was Athens' main negotiator regarding the June accord with Skopje to rename Greece’s northern neighbour the "Republic of North Macedonia,".

The Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras accepted his resignation on Wednesday and will take over the foreign affairs portfolio himself.

Greek media reported that Kotzias and the Defence Minister Panos Kammenos had clashed at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday over the deal which aimed to end the decades-old name dispute with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).

Kammenos is from a right-wing junior coalition partner emphatically opposed to the accord with Skopje. But the support is crucial for Tsipras.

The deal is in limbo after the referendum at the end of September (30 Sept) in FYROM when less than the minimum required turned out to make it valid.</s>By The Associated Press

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek foreign minister resigns after disagreement over Macedonia name change deal; prime minister to take over ministry.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek foreign minister resigns after disagreement over Macedonia name change deal; prime minister to take over ministry.

Copyright © 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.</s>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.</s>Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias has submitted his resignation, Greece's Skai TV reported on Wednesday.

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.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras took over as foreign minister on Wednesday and said he would not let personal agendas overshadow policy.

Tsipras said he would do whatever was needed to ensure the success of an accord with Greece's neighbor to end a decades-old dispute over its name.

Tsipras said of assuming the foreign minister role: "It is a decision not to tolerate, from now on, any double-speak from anyone, or any personal agenda in the national line of the country."

He said he was "pained" to have to accept the resignation of Kotzias.

The name 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.</s>ATHENS, Greece — Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias has resigned following a disagreement with the defence minister over the handling of a recent deal which would change Macedonia’s name in exchange for Greece dropping its objections to the country joining NATO.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced Wednesday he had accepted Kotzias’ resignation, and said he would take over the foreign ministry himself in order to ensure the successful completion of the name change deal.

Kotzias’s move came a day after a cabinet meeting during which he reportedly had a heated argument with Defence Minister Panos Kammenos over the name deal.

Kammenos, who heads the governing coalition’s junior party, has long objected to the deal and threatened to leave the coalition if the agreement comes to parliament for ratification.
Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias resigns after discussion with the Greek Defence Minister in the framework of the Greece-Macedonia Accord.