Political firestorm over name deal

In the wake of the name deal with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) announced by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Tuesday, the government and opposition New Democracy have been set on a collision course which is expected to culminate in Parliament in coming days.

The government on Wednesday rejected a request by main opposition New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis that the deal be debated in Parliament before it is signed by the two countries.

To this end, the conservative leader had called on President Prokopis Pavlopoulos to intervene as the deal was "deeply problematic."

According to ND, a Parliament debate before the deal is signed, rather than after, is the right course of action given that Panos Kammenos, the leader of junior coalition partner Independent Greeks, has also expressed public disagreement over any deal that will include...