ANEL to leave coalition if FYROM deal put to vote, Kammenos says

Defense Minister Panos Kammenos said Wednesday his nationalist Independent Greeks (ANEL) party will withdraw its support from the SYRIZA-led government if the name deal with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) is put to a vote in Greece’s Parliament.

“I will not allow this deal to go through with my own consent,” he told Real FM.

Greek MPs are to vote on the deal after it has been ratified in a September 30 referendum in FYROM and after the Balkan state has revised its constitution – not seen before early 2019.

Meanwhile, speaking about the two Greek soldiers detained in Turkey since March after accidentally crossing the border between the two countries, Kammenos said their arrests were carried out on the orders of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan so that they could eventually be exchanged for the eight Turkish servicemen who sought asylum in Greece after the botched coup in 2016.

“I do not think this was a random act. They found an opportunity on a night with snow to put their plan into action,” Kammenos said.

Greek officials have repeatedly ruled out the possibility of a swap.