Mercurial Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos on Friday vehemently denied that he has tendered his resignation and is, essentially, an outgoing Cabinet member.
Mercurial Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos on Friday vehemently denied that he has tendered his resignation and is, essentially, an outgoing Cabinet member.
Kammenos, the outspoken head of a small right-wing party that has propped up the Tsipras government as its junior coalition partner since January 2015, has tried to walk a "political tightrope" since June 2018 -- balancing his standing opposition to the provisional Prespa agreement, spearheaded by his own coalition government, while continuing to serve as minister and avoid a snap election.
"I am not an outgoing minister, I am not under resignation," he angrily replied to main opposition New Democracy (ND) deputies serving on a Parliament committee where a controversial draft amendment on a weapons contract was tabled. An agreement regarding 280 million euros in offset benefits, related to a pricey contract to upgrade Greece's fleet of F-16s, was suddenly submitted by Kammenos' ministry as part of an unrelated piece of legislation earlier this week.
Kammenos removed the draft amendment from Parliament's plenum and referred it to the committee after an opposition outcry.