Tensions rose between Dora Bakoyannis and SYRIZA after the statements of the ND MP and former Foreign Minister to SKAI regarding the situation in North Macedonia and the provocative attitude of the country’s new president, with spikes for SYRIZA president Stefanos Kasselakis.

Referring to the memorandums that remain to be ratified by Greece, Mrs. Bakoyannis said: “If we do it now, we will show that we are afraid of something, secondly, that we are different and that Mr. Kasselakis will do us the favor of making Greece’s foreign policy , and not a distinct foreign policy. We are not rebuke.”

SYRIZA’s response was immediate: “Who are ‘rebesques’ and who are not, was revealed by Mrs. Bakoyannis herself, in her interview with SKAI, when she admitted the five-year, deliberate obstruction of the government and her party in everything what concerns the ratification of the three memoranda resulting from the Prespa Agreement” he said in a statement.

“From here on out,” continues SYRIZA, “she would do well to keep to herself the advice on sound foreign policy and urge her party to exercise the necessary self-criticism, especially when all the recent developments have exposed them to of the entire international community”.

Referring to the government’s foreign policy, Mrs. Bakoyanni noted: “We have proven that we know how to defend national interests and when we will say the big ‘no’. And we said it, not within the country, outside the country. Populism sells, and it is easy not only in Greece, in the Balkans and in the world. We want to be responsible and useful for the national interests.”

Criticizing the opposition, he said: “I heard Androulakis’ blunt statement ‘I would never go to Ankara’… Mr. Androulakis never went to Ankara, maybe he went as an MEP, he has never managed such an issue to understand . I also heard Mr. Kasselakis’ other harsh statement, who told us to bring the three memoranda for Skopje tomorrow morning. Kasselakis and foreign policy concepts so far incompatible. I hope he learns ‘what is a continental shelf’, he still has time.”

Message to North Macedonia – Edi Rama

Regarding North Macedonia and the victory of VMRO nationalists, he said that reality is taking its revenge, reality will fall on their heads and they will understand that everything they were saying was fresh air. “If they persist, European prospect yok. This country can’t stand this, the reactions, it’s a small country with a weak economy, or they’ll come to their senses, they’ll follow the beaten path, they’ll eat what they said before the elections, we’ve experienced it in our own.”

For Edi Rama’s gathering in Galatsi, Dora Bakoyannis reported that Rama gathered 5,000 Albanians and greeted them with joy. “I care about what he did with Beleris,” he noted. “Albania’s European path depends on the respect of the ethnic minority and it passes through Greece. Let Mr. Rama not forget that Greece has political influence on the voters among the Albanians who exist in Greece, and when he wants to make use of this influence, he can do so with great ease,” Mrs. Bakoyannis pointed out.