NEWS

Gov’t mulling tactics to appease northern Greece

Gov’t mulling tactics to appease northern Greece

With elections looming, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his aides are reportedly examining ways of stemming resentment in northern Greece toward the government over the Prespes agreement that resolved the name dispute with North Macedonia.

Polls in northern Greece have shown that more than 70 percent are opposed to the agreement and the government’s efforts to reverse the tide with a string of speeches by senior officials have been met with protests.

Some advisers insist the government must ditch the tactic of dismissing all opponents of the deal as being part of the far-right, given the potentially heavy cost at the ballot box.

“If there is no change in this tactic the damage could be huge,” according to those that believe the focus should be on highlighting the positives of the name deal.

Given the fear of an electoral rout, some aides are also insisting the national election should not take place before October in the hope that the negative sentiment will wear off.

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