Following the parliament’s vote of confidence to the government, Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has announced that he will ensure that the entire text of the Prespes Agreement with FYROM is distributed through the Sunday press, “in order for everyone to be able to form a judgment after they have read it."
An announcement from the PM’s office said that the “aim is for the entire Greek people to learn the truth and to form their judgment with sense and sensitivity on the basis of truth alone, not on the basis of shouts, slogans, and nationalist rhetoric.”
In its announcement, the Maximos Mansion termed as a 'very important step' in informing the Greek people "a debate with the leader of the main opposition [New Democracy Kyriakos Mitsotakis] exclusively on the Prespes Agreement, a debate proposed by the prime minister during the parliamentary session on Wednesday evening."
"Our proposal is for the debate to be broadcast on all television channels and to be held early next week, at a day and time that will be jointly agreed," it said.
"Citizens will thus have the opportunity to hear and compare the arguments, and to address the Prespes Agreement using truth as a guideline and judging on the basis of their conscience, without succumbing to petty party politics and hysterical expressions of alleged patriotic antagonism," it explained.
In its conclusion, the PM's office said, "All democratic and progressive political forces, as well as every deputy, are also called to do the same. What should prevail in such major national issues is the country's patriotic interests and the certainty that everyone will be judged by the Greek people and by history. Because today, as always, what is national is what is true."
Following main opposition New Democracy's announcement declining the Prime Minister's invitation to hold a debate on the Prespes Agreement, the prime minister's press office on Thursday accused Mitsotakis of "running scared" because he lacked arguments to support his positions.
The note verbale sent from Skopje on Wednesday, it said, which clarified that the term 'nationality' neither defines nor implies ethnicity and that the country's language belongs to the South Slavic family of languages, "puts Mitsotakis, who was in favour of the compound name either way, in a very difficult position."
It also urged Mitsotakis not to use the elections as an excuse "since he will have to hide for a long time yet," adding that the pre-election debates will take place in October 2019 while the debate in parliament will be exhaustive, allowing all MPs to state their views.
