Defense Minister and leader of Independent Greeks Panos Kammenos has demanded that a referendum should take place after an agreement is struck between Athens and Skopje on the name of the former Yugoslav Republic.
“The Greek people should be able decide whether they would hand over their history and culture to another people,” he says in an article published in Sunday paper Dimokratia.
Kammenos insists that FYROM should be prevented for using the term Macedonia in its name and has threatened to block any attempts towards such a solution.
“The inclusion of the term ‘Macedonia’ in the name will mean the shrinking of Greek culture for centuries to come,” he writes.
Analysts say that his latest intervention in the name dispute is likely to complicate the on-going negotiations between Greece and FYROM.
The Greek government led by Alexis Tsipras depends on the continued support of the Independent Greeks in keeping its slim parliamentary majority.
Foreign minister Nikos Kotzias has stated that no referendum is necessary when an interim agreement with Skopje is reached.
Leader of the opposition Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said that New Democracy would agree to any proposal if the two government partners do not reach a common position.