Dimitris Kammenos

There is divine irony in the fact that the marriage of convenience between Alexis Tsipras and Panos Kammenos is collapsing in the presence of the very symbol that helped bring them together.

With the future of the coalition hanging in the balance over the Prespes name deal, Friday's meeting between Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his partner Panos Kammenos is expected to be pivotal.

Sources from junior coalition party, Independent Greek (ANEL), said Thursday that regardless of the outcome of the meeting, Kammenos will not resign on Friday but early next week. 

Greek junior coalition partner and defense minister Panos Kammenos on Friday denied that he is an "outgoing minister" during a session of Parliament's defense committee and ahead of a much-awaited meeting with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras during which the former's anticipated departure from the government due to his opposition to the Prespes deal was expected to be discussed. 

Junior coalition partner Independent Greeks (ANEL) will vote against the government if there is a no-confidence vote in Parliament, party MP Kostas Katsikis said in comments on television on Thursday.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Wednesday that he will seek a vote of confidence if the leader of the junior coalition party, Panos Kammenos, withdraws his trust in the government due to objections over the Prespes name agreement with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). 

It's been years since Greece last experienced such a political farce, as the coalition partners continue to trade barbs and accusations over alleged defections and conspiracies.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday sought to downplay speculation of an imminent government breakup, but said that if the name deal with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia does prompt the departure of coalition partner Independent Greeks, he would seek a confidence vote.

With a vote on the Prespes name deal looming, tensions continued to rise between the leftist SYRIZA party of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who backed the agreement, and coalition partner Independent Greeks (ANEL), whose leader Panos Kammenos opposes it, with the two men set to meet on Friday. Meanwhile, both camps are said to be planning for the eventuality of a government breakup.

Amid growing speculation over the fate of Greece's coalition government, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and head of the junior partner Independent Greeks (ANEL) Panos Kammenos are both scheduled to appear on television Wednesday.

Amid rising tensions within the government over the contentious Prespes name deal, conservative New Democracy on Monday hit out at both Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his coalition partner Panos Kammenos, who opposes the deal Tsipras's government signed, accusing them of destabilizing the country.