SYRIZA should have reached out to center-left, says ex-FM

Ex-foreign minister Nikos Kotzias on Monday accused members of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' inner circle of arrogance and said the party should have reached out to the center-left, "in a regulated manner and much earlier."

"There is a part of Maximos Mansion that has an arrogant attitude," Kotzias told Kontra TV on Monday night in the wake of SYRIZA's defeat in European, regional and local elections on Sunday, referring to the prime minister's office. "There needs to be a change of guard, for some people who are close to the prime minister to be pushed aside," he added, without elaborating.

"You can't lose by 9.5 percent and pretend that nothing's happened," the seasoned diplomat said in reference to SYRIZA's defeat to opposition New Democracy. "Certain ministers, like those who told Alexis Tsipras that Sunday's result would be close, should resign on their own...