Unbridgeable chasm

A governing coalition where the two partner parties are as deeply split over a key foreign policy issue as SYRIZA and Independent Greeks are right now is not something you see very often.

The desire to stay in power as long as possible is perfectly clear, but this game the pair are playing around the name deal with Skopje is hard to believe.

The prime minister and the minister of foreign affairs consider the agreement signed with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in the Prespes lake district in June an important part of their legacy. On the other hand, the leader of the junior coalition party believes it to be a criminal deal that needs to be abolished.

There is no way to bridge these two positions – which are expounded with equal passion by the two sides – so inevitably there is an end date to this tug-of-war.