Ex PM Samaras slams name deal in Parliament
Former conservative prime minister Antonis Samaras on Saturday criticized a deal between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) on the long-standing name dispute for conceding too much to the Balkan neighbor.
Speaking during a debate on a no-confidence motion against the SYRIZA-led government over the deal, Samaras criticized it for recognizing a Macedonian ethnicity and language.
The ex premier, now a New Democracy MP, warned that the deal will fuel “aggressive irredentism” creating instability in the wider region. “Either the deal will not last or it will cause turmoil,” Samaras said.
Samaras also attacked Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, saying he was “just a yes-man.”
“I fought for the Macedonia issue, you gave it all away,” he said.
Samaras’s stance as foreign minister in 1992 under then prime minister Costantinos Mitsotakis on the name issue eventually led to the collapse of that administration.
