Achilleas Karamanlis says FYROM name deal ‘worst possible solution’ for Greece

Achilleas Karamanlis, former conservative minister and vice chairman of the Constantine Karamanlis Foundation, has criticized the agreement between Athens and Skopje on the name dispute “as the worst possible solution” for Greece’s national interests.

“The deal with Skopje undermines the Greek national interest as, for the first time, Athens recognizes a Macedonian language and citizenship, thus also ethnicity,” he told Kathimerini, adding that the agreement left room for territorial aspirations against Greece.

“[Prime Minister] Alexis Tsipras does not have the right, for the sake of his international commitments and petty political tactics, to divide and mortgage the nation’s future,” he said adding that “everyone, without exception, ought to react” to the agreement.

He said his criticism was not directed at President Prokopis Pavlopoulos.