#kammenos

[elladastinkardiamou]

Residents worsened fires - Greek minister

Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos told the BBC that illegal construction has contributed to one of the country's worst-ever wildfire disasters.

He said building by residents between wooded areas was a "crime" that had resulted in blocking escape routes.

Mr Kammenos was confronted by angry locals as he visited areas devastated by fires east of Athens this week.

At least 81 people died and search teams fear they will find further victims as dozens more are missing.

Arriving in the fire zone in the town of Mati on Thursday, Mr Kammenos was surrounded by residents who accused him of abandoning them.

"You left us alone," one person told the minister, who was accompanied by the local mayor and the head of the air force.

One man told the BBC he had reached the fire station to ask for help, and found firefighters unaware of the blaze.

[elladastinkardiamou]

Kammenos, Kotzias and the “€50mn by George Soros for Prespes Agreement”

Defense Minister Panos Kammenos fired unbelievable allegations against now former Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias and practically forced him to resignation after the Prime Minister and other first-class ministers failed to support him.

Tsipras’ junior coalition partner Kammenos alleged Kotzias mismanaged funds for the Prespses Agreement, he was involved in issuing of illegal visas… with the peak to be that Kotzias received 50,000,000 euros by George Soros in order to proceed with the deal with FYROM.

Many media report about Kammenos’ allegations that Kotzias is “a man of US billionaire financier George Soros,” news website liberal.gr lists Kammenos’ allegation as such:

Kotzias received €50 million by George Soros in order to move forward and speed up the Prespes Agreement He mismanaged the ‘secret funds’ for the Prespes Agreement He is involved in cases dealing with the issuing of illegal visas According to in.gr news, Kammenos initially accused Kotzias of  having given “19 million euros to foreign media to swear at him to his position Prespes position.”

[elladastinkardiamou]

Farewell to arms?

What leaving gift do you give the man who has everything? Outgoing Defence Minister Panos Kammenos is a man of expensive tastes. One can well imagine him having a Geneva shop front’s worth of gold watches in the closet behind his collection of plus-size military uniforms accumulated during his four years in the post – none of them earned in military service. This morning, Kammenos got the chicken-hawk’s wet dream of a send-off: a parade attended by top military brass, complete with a fighter jet fly-past. In order to allow him his pomp and ceremony, parliament delayed by two hours the debate on a vote of confidence in the government, triggered by Kammenos’s well-signposted but still rather inconvenient departure. ...Having demonstrated that he is content to be the tail wagging a much bigger dog, this Tinpot Trump (or Puny Putin – he is a great admirer of both men) appeared doomed to the political oblivion that is the fate of junior coalition partners until this gift of a cause landed in his lap and gave him a new lease on life. It has become commonplace in Greece in the years of a crisis for people to throw around words like “junta” and “coup” to casually describe governments or policies they disagree with. It is still a shock to wake up to such a spectacular deployment of the trappings of totalitarianism in plain view, using public funds, with consent at the highest level. Kammenos now returns to the political fray weakened but unfettered, leaving in his chair a man who – as he was ominously reminded at the handover ceremony – may owe his health to a religious dedication made by the outgoing minister himself.

[elladastinkardiamou]

How the Kammenos-Tsipras deal allows the latter to govern, and Prespes agreement to be passed

After the hype of the last few days, that brought into question the prospects of the present government continuing in power, as well as the ratification of the Prespes agreement by Athens, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his coalition partner Panos Kammenos, have in essence agreed to a mutually convenient path which will not threaten either.

Recapping what was announced today, but has been essentially a prearranged deal, the SYRIZA government will remain in power, with a renewed mandate, despite the criticism of the way this new majority is being created.

SYRIZA itself has 145 deputies, and can count on the positive votes of Citizens Security deputy Minister, Katerina Papacosta, To Potami deputy Spyros Danellis, as well as four Independent Greeks deputies, Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura, Agriculture Deputy Minister Vassilis Kokkalis, and deputies Thanassis Papachristopoulos and Costas Zouraris. They add up to 151. The final tally could be 152, if Centrist Union MP Yannis Saridis, who recently voted in favor of the government's budget, opts for a positive vote too.

[elladastinkardiamou]

Greek Leader Calls for Vote of Confidence After Minister Quits Over Macedonia Deal

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called on Sunday for an “immediate” vote of confidence in the Greek government, hours after the defense minister announced that he would quit the governing coalition in protest of a deal ending a dispute with Macedonia over its name.

Defense Minister Panos Kammenos’s decision came days after Macedonian lawmakers agreed to officially change the country’s name to the Republic of North Macedonia, ending a long dispute and opening the door for the small Balkan nation’s membership in NATO and the European Union.

If other members of Mr. Kammenos’s right-wing minority coalition party, the Independent Greeks, quit, it would most likely result in a minority Greek government.

The vote of confidence is expected to take place in Parliament on Thursday.

“For almost four years I had an honorable and honest cooperation with Panos Kammenos,” Mr. Tsipras said in a statement, thanking the defense minister for his “irreplaceable, important contribution” to the government.

[elladastinkardiamou]

Greece’s coalition collapses as partner ANEL leaves gov’t over Macedonia issue

Junior coalition partner Panos Kammenos announced on Sunday morning that he pulls all his ministers from the government and he also resigns from the post of Defense Minister. The leader of right-wing Independent Greeks (ANEL) has repeatedly warned that he would leave the government should the Prespes Agreement with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia comes for ratification to the Parliament.

“The issue of Macedonia does not allow me to not sacrifice the chair,” Kamennos said after a 45-minute meeting with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Sunday morning.

After the Parliament in FYROM ratified the country’s name change on Friday evening, Tsipras called for a meeting with Kammenos, urging him to clarify his position.

[elladastinkardiamou]

Greek PM says he would seek confidence vote if coalition breaks up

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday sought to downplay speculation of an imminent government breakup, but said that if the name deal with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia does prompt the departure of coalition partner Independent Greeks, he would seek a confidence vote.

Speaking in an interview with the Open TV channel, the leftist prime minister said that he does not believe his coalition partner Panos Kammenos will “pour more water on the mill” and “facilitate the plans of our political opponents.”

“Even if you haven't got 151 lawmakers, you have no problem by the Constitution in carrying on,” Tsipras said, adding, however, that we would have a “political problem.”

"In such an eventuality, I will proceed in due time with snap elections, whose timing will depend on the crucial initiatives we have said we will implement. But I'm saying that there is no such thing as an impasse in democracy. I believe I will secure a confidence vote.”

[elladastinkardiamou]

The name deal and Kammenos’s endgame

The stance of Independent Greeks (ANEL), the junior nationalist party in Greece’s leftist-led coalition, on the name deal reached with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continues to resemble a kind of theater of the absurd.

The latest with respect to what will happen when the agreement comes to Greece’s Parliament for ratification is that Independent Greeks leader and Defense Minister Panos Kammenos, along with party members who choose to follow him – at least two appear unwilling to do so – will vote against the deal, and then the members of ANEL who are serving in the cabinet will resign.

That way, Kammenos believes he will be able to claim that he has thus expressed his “staunch” opposition to the agreement reached between Athens and Skopje in June, and can then continue to support the government in Parliament without actually being a part of it.