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Greek Government Faces Censure Vote Over Macedonia Name Deal
RFE/RL June 16, 2018
Greek lawmakers have entered the third and final day of debate on a no-confidence motion against the left-leaning government over a deal to end a decades-old dispute with neighboring Macedonia over the latter's name.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is expected to weather the vote, which takes place a day before the foreign ministers of Greece and Macedonia are scheduled to meet on the border for a ceremony to sign the historic deal.
The agreement to change the name of Greece's northern neighbor to the Republic of North Macedonia has been welcomed by the United Nations, the European Union, the United States, and NATO.
But it has met with strong opposition internally in both countries, which could pose obstacles and delays for its ratification in their national parliaments.
Greece's main opposition party denounced the deal as a capitulation and called for the confidence vote in parliament, while Macedonia's nationalist President Gjorge Ivanov pledged to veto the deal if it is ratified by Skopje's parliament.
Small street protests have also broken out against the deal in Macedonia and among Greeks who object to their Balkan neighbor using the same name as Greece's northernmost province.
Macedonia in ancient times was the cradle of Alexander the Great's empire, and remains a source of intense pride among modern-day Greeks.
"Nobody can be called Macedonians except the Greeks," protest organizer Michalis Patsikas has said.
But Tsipras, confident he will prevail in parliament, has dismissed the opposition. He has argued that the pact will help stabilize the historically volatile Balkan region and nurture prosperity in Southern Europe.
"This is the most forward-looking deal the country has ever had in its hands," Interior Minister Panos Skourletis told parliament. "We are proud to put our name on a deal that takes a step for peace and cooperation."
By agreeing to change its name to North Macedonia under the deal, Skopje has won Greece's support for its efforts to join the European Union and NATO -- efforts Athens previously blocked for decades.
Macedonian leaders have said that with the deal in hand, they hope to secure a date to begin EU accession talks at an EU summit in late June, and an invitation to join NATO by mid-July.
Ahead of the no-confidence vote in Greece's parliament, tempers flared on June 15, with a lawmaker from the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party calling on the Greek Army to topple the government.
The lawmaker was evicted from the debate together with the rest of the party's lawmakers.
Outside the chamber, a few hundred people, including priests and Golden Dawn lawmakers, gathered to protest.
The protesters plan to remain outside parliament until the censure vote, while another demonstration is planned on the border during the signing ceremony on June 17.
But Tsipras's coalition government is expected to survive the vote in part because its nationalist coalition partner, the Independent Greeks party, is expected to support the government in the vote even though it opposes the deal with Macedonia.
As long as the governing coalition stays together, it controls a slim majority -- 154 of the 300 votes in the parliament.
Beyond the confidence vote, before the deal with Macedonia can go into effect, it must be ratified first by Macedonia's parliament and confirmed in a Macedonian referendum in September, after which Greece's parliament must ratify it.
With reporting by AFP, dpa, and AP
Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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