The River

Spyros Danellis, a former lawmaker of centrist To Potami, defended his decision to support the government in a no-confidence vote that will be held late on Wednesday, saying it does not mean he is joining ruling SYRIZA.

Greece's conservative opposition maintains a strong lead over the ruling leftist party, according to a new opinion poll published Wednesday.

The survey by Opinion Poll showed that New Democracy would get 31.5 percent of the vote if elections were held now, versus 16.5 percent for Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's SYRIZA party.

Former conservative foreign minister Dora Bakoyannis suggested Wednesday that the government was offering incentives to non-SYRIZA lawmakers for their support in the vote of confidence.

To Potami lawmaker George Mavrotas on Tuesday suggested that the leftist government was using the Prespes deal to extract support in a confidence vote set for Wednesday.

Centrist Potami lawmaker Spyros Danellis, who announced on Monday he will support the government in a confidence motion called by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, will be expelled from the party, its spokesman said on Tuesday.

After the hype of the last few days, that brought into question the prospects of the present government continuing in power, as well as the ratification of the Prespes agreement by Athens, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his coalition partner Panos Kammenos, have in essence agreed to a mutually convenient path which will not threaten either.

The centrist party To Potami condemned an attack of vandalism by the Rouvikonas anarchist group against the US Embassy in Athens on Monday, saying that the assault "compromises Greeks on the international stage."

There is widespread satisfaction - even enthusiasm - over the support for Greece being expressed by American officials both privately and publicly, as well as over the exceptionally fruitful tripartite partnership between Greece, Cyprus and Israel.

New Democracy has seen its popularity rise by one point to 10.5 percent against ruling SYRIZA in the latest opinion poll by Pulse, as 33.5 percent of respondents said they would vote for the conservatives if elections were held now, against 23 percent who would cast ballots for SYRIZA.

Former Finance Ministry public revenues chief Haris Theoharis, an independent lawmaker, has joined the ranks of New Democracy's parliamentary group, the conservative party announced on Tuesday.