Kotzias

The political movement Pratto, led by former foreign minister Nikos Kotzias, on Wednesday announced that it was officially ending its cooperation with ruling SYRIZA and that it will not take part in next month's national elections. It urged its followers to vote for progressive forces.

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."

Three days after former Greek foreign minister Nikos Kotzias suggested that emails presented in Parliament by ex-defense minister Panos Kammenos as evidence that the former had favored a specific firm in a tender for issuing visas could have been hacked by the Russian secret services, the Russian Embassy in Athens Monday denied any meddling in Greece's domestic affairs.

Former foreign minister Nikos Kotzias claimed Friday that the emails presented in Parliament by former defense minister Panos Kammenos as evidence that Kotzias had favored a specific company in a tender for issuing visas were either forged or hacked by secret services.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Foreign Minister Yorgos Katrougalos are in China for the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, based on the ancient Silk Road, linking East and Southeast Asia with East Africa, West Asia, and southern Europe.

Former defense minister Panos Kammenos and former foreign minister Nikos Kotzias clashed once again on Friday after the former claimed he had evidence that a contract for issuing visas was fixed under Kotzias' watch. 

Michalis Kostarakos, the former chairman of the Greek Joint Chiefs of Staff, has lambasted the SYRIZA government over its handling of foreign policy and national issues in a lengthy post on his Facebook account.

The joint statements on Thursday by Foreign Minister Giorgos Katrougalos and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Antalya, that Ankara should not be excluded from the unfolding energy game in the Eastern Mediterranean, sparked a war of words between the government and opposition New Democracy.

As Moscow recognized the Republic of North Macedonia by its new official name Monday, Panos Kammenos and Nikos Kotzias picked up their bickering over the so-called Prespes accord again.

North Macedonia's Foreign Minister, Nikola Dimitrov, has said Greece has enhanced its status by negotiating and ratifying the Prespes Agreement that gave his country a new name.

Speaking at the Delphi Economic Forum Friday, Dimitrov said that the way a country treats its weaker neighbors says a lot about its character.