By Penelope Galliou

The government has to face a double front in the week that opens from today in the Parliament, where issues such as national issues and the country’s fire protection will be raised on the floor, which raise objections and reactions not only in the wings of the opposition but also internally of the blue faction.

The beginning will be made with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Giorgos Gerapetritis, who tomorrow will take on his own shoulders – after other leading Ministers preceded him – the burden of smoothing the points that are formulated within the ND parliamentary group on national issues, with culmination of the recent, new questioning of Antonis Samaras from Cyprus. Mr. Gerapetritis will inform the ND MPs, who are members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of the Parliament, about all the developments in the Greek-Turkish and Cypriot issues.

“Greece does not discuss sovereign rights”, the Minister of Foreign Affairs is expected to repeat for the umpteenth time, emphatically, setting the clear limits of the Greek positions, but also trying to anticipate any relevant criticism from MPs who will attend the briefing. At the same time, in view of the imminent arrival of the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs in Athens, Hakan Fidan, on November 8, Giorgos Gerapetritis, and from tomorrow’s intra-party forum, will announce in all directions the red lines of Athens which have been clarified repeatedly and by the prime minister himself, as well as the fact that because there are open channels of discussion with Turkey, it does not mean any retreat. In fact, Kyriakos Mitsotakis himself, just last week, made sure that the messages he addressed to the far-right parties of the ND were heard in all directions, in order to avoid new grumbling and spikes.

“Just because we talk about it doesn’t mean we agree. We neither sell out, nor betray anyone” he said sternly after the end of the Summit in Brussels. “Greece, therefore, and I fully support the Minister of Foreign Affairs in this, will continue to talk with Turkey, as we have already done. I have met six times with Mr. Erdogan. This does not mean that we have agreed or that we are close to an agreement on the issues of maritime zones, EEZ and continental shelf,” he noted.

The same assurances are expected to be given by the Prime Minister from the floor of the Plenary Session of the Parliament, on Wednesday, even though the subject of the convocation is the account of this year’s fire fighting season, on the initiative of the Prime Minister himself. However, the fact that it will be the first debate at the level of political leaders, after the European elections, and having mediated a series of issues that have arisen, or have changed the relationships in the opposition benches, the debate is expected to be full-on and extended to all the key issues that concern the political scene and society.

A debate, which acquires, among other things, special political interest in terms of the redefinition of parliamentary relationships and opposition tones, after the re-election of Nikos Androulakis to the presidency of PASOK, the fluidity within SYRIZA but also the polling – towards present – strengthening of parties “more to the right” than the ND.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, however – according to government sources – is said to be determined not to leave any tip against him and his government unanswered, trying to put an end to, or at least reduce to a minimum, unprovoked attacks, slander and fake news used by his political opponents, in the absence of arguments and political counterpoint.