Greek foreign minister quits in row over name deal

ATHENS: Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias resigned on Wednesday following a row within the government coalition over the country’s name agreement with Macedonia. “The resignation was received,” Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ office said in a statement.

Kotzias was the main negotiator for Greece in the talks with Macedonia, which in June produced an agreement to rename the former Yugoslav republic the Republic of Northern Macedonia. On Tuesday, he clashed with Defence Minister Panos Kammenos, the leader of the populist Independent Greeks party, which opposes the deal.

The agreement seeks to end a dispute over the name Macedonia after nearly three decades, during which Greece has blocked its northern neighbour from joining Nato and opening EU membership talks.

Once Macedonia implements its part of the agreement and constitutionally changes its name, Greece is supposed to lift the obstacles to Nato, the EU and other international organisations. But both Tsipras and his Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev face fierce opposition from the nationalists in their respective countries.

Kammenos has promised to vote against the deal in the Greek parliament, leaving Tsipras without a majority, while Zaev is struggling to muster a two-thirds majority in the Macedonian parliament to initiate constitutional changes.