Athens, June 17 (IANS) – Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras survived a no-confidence vote on Saturday that was presented by conservative members of Parliament to protest the deal reached with Skopje regarding the future name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).

The no-confidence motion, which required a 151-vote majority, received the support of 127 out of the 280 lawmakers who were present (of a total of 300 members of Parliament), while 153 lawmakers from the governing coalition voted against it, reports Efe.

A member of the nationalist Independent Greeks party (ANEL), which is part of the governing coalition, voted for the motion and was immediately expelled from his parliamentary group.

Tsipras accused the opposition of wanting to “open Pandora’s box” and of “legitimizing” extreme nationalism with the sole purpose of seeing his government fall.

On Tuesday, Tsipras reached a deal with his Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev to end a decades-long dispute regarding the future name of the FYROM.

According to the agreement, which will be signed on Sunday although it must then win parliamentary approval in the two countries, the FYROM will be renamed the Republic of North Macedonia.

The no-confidence motion was presented by the conservative New Democracy party with the argument that the government could not sign the agreement with Skopje without Parliament’s approval.

The head of New Democracy, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, criticized Tsipras for not having sought out a consensus with the other political parties, including with ANEL, and called on lawmakers who were against the agreement to vote for the no-confidence motion.

Tsipras responded saying Mitsotakis “is not interested in improving the international standing of our country, nor in an economic recovery, nor in restructuring the debt. The only thing he wants is this government to fall.” </s> Greece’s left-wing prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, has narrowly won a confidence vote in parliament days after the governing coalition collapsed.

Mr Tsipras received the minimum 151 votes in Greece’s 300-seat legislature for his government to survive.

Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras, centre, claps hands with other members of the government after the announcement of the confidence vote results (Petros Giannakouris/AP)

The defence minister in Mr Tsipras’ government who leads a small nationalist party, Panos Kammenos, quit the coalition last weekend over a proposed agreement with neighbouring Macedonia.

The deal calls for the young country to be renamed North Macedonia in exchange for Greece no longer blocking its path to Nato membership. </s> ATHENS, Greece — The Latest on the confidence vote in Greece (all times local):

Greece’s left-wing prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, has narrowly won a confidence vote in parliament days after the governing coalition collapsed.

Tsipras received the minimum 151 votes in Greece’s 300-seat legislature for his government to survive. His term ends in October.

The defence minister in Tsipras’ government who leads a small nationalist party, Panos Kammenos, quit the coalition last weekend over a proposed agreement with neighbouring Macedonia. The deal calls for the young country to be renamed North Macedonia in exchange for Greece no longer blocking its path to NATO membership.

Greek lawmakers are gearing up for a confidence vote in the left-wing government, which lost its parliamentary majority after its coalition partner walked out to protest a deal to normalize relations with neighbouring Macedonia.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is expected to narrowly survive the ballot at midnight Wednesday, backed by independent lawmakers and deputies from his former coalition partner who proposed to defy their party’s line.

Tsipras has strongly defended his efforts to end a 27-year dispute with Macedonia over the country’s name — which Greece says implies claims on its own province of Macedonia and on Greek cultural heritage.

Under the agreement, which Macedonia has already ratified, the country will be renamed North Macedonia, and Greece will lift its objections to the country joining NATO and the European Union. </s> The Latest on a no-confidence vote in the Greek parliament (all times local):

Greek lawmakers have rejected a no-confidence motion in the government brought by the main opposition party over a deal to change the name of Macedonia and end a decades-old dispute with Greece’s northern neighbor.

Lawmakers voted 153-127 in the 300-member parliament Saturday against the motion to oust the left-led government over the deal renaming the former Yugoslav republic North Macedonia.

One lawmaker from the government’s junior coalition partner, the nationalist Independent Greeks, voted in favor of the move. The party is a vociferous critic of the name deal. The party’s leader, Defense Minister Panos Kammenos, kicked the lawmaker out of the party.

The deal aims to end a dispute that has roiled the two countries’ relations since Macedonia declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.

Greece’s main opposition leader urged lawmakers Saturday to support his no-confidence vote against the government over a deal to end a decades-old dispute with neighboring Macedonia over the latter’s name.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ left-led coalition government is expected to survive the vote, set for later Saturday. His government controls 154 of parliament’s 300 seats. The nationalist party that is a junior coalition partner says it will reject the motion despite vehemently opposing the name deal that Tsipras reached with his Macedonian counterpart.

“Today you are all mortgaging the future of the country,” said conservative New Democracy party leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who brought the no-confidence motion.

Greek lawmakers are debating for the final day a no-confidence motion against the government over a deal to end a decades-old dispute with neighboring Macedonia over the latter’s name.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ left-led coalition government is expected to survive Saturday’s vote. His government controls 154 of parliament’s 300 seats, and the nationalist party that is a junior coalition partner says it will reject the motion despite opposing the agreement Tsipras reached with his Macedonian counterpart.

Tsipras and Macedonia’s Zoran Zaev settled on a deal Tuesday that would rename Greece’s northern neighbor North Macedonia, while Athens would drop its objections to the country joining NATO and the European Union.

Hardliners in both countries are furious at the deal, which they consider concedes too much to the other side </s> ATHENS, Greece — The Latest on the confidence vote in Greece (all times local):

Greece's left-wing prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, has narrowly won a confidence vote in parliament days after the governing coalition collapsed.

Tsipras received the minimum 151 votes in Greece's 300-seat legislature for his government to survive. His term ends in October.

The defense minister in Tsipras' government who leads a small nationalist party, Panos Kammenos, quit the coalition last weekend over a proposed agreement with neighboring Macedonia. The deal calls for the young country to be renamed North Macedonia in exchange for Greece no longer blocking its path to NATO membership.

Greek lawmakers are gearing up for a confidence vote in the left-wing government, which lost its parliamentary majority after its coalition partner walked out to protest a deal to normalize relations with neighboring Macedonia.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is expected to narrowly survive the ballot at midnight Wednesday, backed by independent lawmakers and deputies from his former coalition partner who proposed to defy their party's line.

Tsipras has strongly defended his efforts to end a 27-year dispute with Macedonia over the country's name — which Greece says implies claims on its own province of Macedonia and on Greek cultural heritage.

Under the agreement, which Macedonia has already ratified, the country will be renamed North Macedonia, and Greece will lift its objections to the country joining NATO and the European Union. </s> The Latest on the confidence vote in Greece (all times local):

Greece's left-wing prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, has narrowly won a confidence vote in parliament days after the governing coalition collapsed.

Tsipras received the minimum 151 votes in Greece's 300-seat legislature for his government to survive. His term ends in October.

The defense minister in Tsipras' government who leads a small nationalist party, Panos Kammenos, quit the coalition last weekend over a proposed agreement with neighboring Macedonia. The deal calls for the young country to be renamed North Macedonia in exchange for Greece no longer blocking its path to NATO membership.

Greek lawmakers are gearing up for a confidence vote in the left-wing government, which lost its parliamentary majority after its coalition partner walked out to protest a deal to normalize relations with neighboring Macedonia.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is expected to narrowly survive the ballot at midnight Wednesday, backed by independent lawmakers and deputies from his former coalition partner who proposed to defy their party's line.

Tsipras has strongly defended his efforts to end a 27-year dispute with Macedonia over the country's name — which Greece says implies claims on its own province of Macedonia and on Greek cultural heritage.

Under the agreement, which Macedonia has already ratified, the country will be renamed North Macedonia, and Greece will lift its objections to the country joining NATO and the European Union. </s> Greece's left-led coalition government survived a no-confidence vote in parliament Saturday brought over a deal to end a decades-old dispute with neighboring Macedonia concerning the latter's name.

But the government suffered a loss in its parliamentary majority after lawmaker Dimitris Kammenos of the nationalist Independent Greeks, the government's junior coalition partner, voted in favor. He was kicked out of the party immediately after the vote, leaving the governing coalition with a three-member majority.

Lawmakers voted 153-127 in the 300-member parliament against the motion brought by the conservative main opposition party over the deal to rename the former Yugoslav republic North Macedonia. In the agreement, Athens would drop its objections to the country joining NATO and the European Union.

Thousands of protesters rallied outside parliament during the debate, waving Greek flags and chanting anti-government slogans. Scuffles broke out, with riot police firing tear gas to stop protesters from breaching police lines.

The deal reached by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev on Tuesday aims to end a bitter dispute that has roiled the two countries' relations since shortly after Macedonia declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.

Greece argued the term "Macedonia" implied territorial claims on its province of the same name, which is the birthplace of the ancient warrior king Alexander the Great, and usurped its ancient Greek heritage and history.

The deal was met with fury by critics in both countries, who accuse their respective prime ministers of conceding too much.

"Hatred toward the country of another is not patriotism," Tsipras said during his speech in parliament.

The agreement will be signed Sunday morning by the two nations' foreign ministers at Lake Prespa near their common border. Both prime ministers will attend the ceremony, as will European officials. Protests have been called in both countries.

Speaking during the debate, Defense Minister and Independent Greeks head Panos Kammenos stressed that voting against the no-confidence motion was not a vote in favor of the Macedonia name deal, which he vowed to reject when it is eventually brought to parliament.

Tsipras stressed the deal met all of Greece's demands and would close "the open wound that has been troubling our country for more than 26 years."

Conservative New Democracy party leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who had brought the no-confidence motion, argued that a vote in favor of the government was a vote in favor of the name deal.

"Today you are all mortgaging the future of the country," he told lawmakers.

Across the border, Zaev has also met with opposition, with President Gjorge Ivanov saying he will not sign off on the agreement. Zaev has said he will put it to a referendum in the fall.

"With the signing of the agreement between Macedonia and Greece, everyone will benefit," Zaev said Saturday.

Macedonian Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov stressed the deal would pave the way for NATO and EU accession.

"We have forces that are fighting for the future, we have forces that are fighting for the past," Dimitrov said in Skopje. "We cannot change the past, we could the future."

The ratification process will take months.

In Macedonia, the agreement must clear the hurdles of parliamentary ratification, a referendum and a constitutional amendment. If Ivanov refuses to sign off on the deal, it will be sent back to parliament for a second vote. If it passes again, the president must sign it.

In Greece, the deal faces ratification in parliament only after Macedonia has completed its part of the process. </s> Alexis Tsipras called for the no confidence vote himself after defence minister Panos Kammenos sensationally quit leaving the country’s coalition government’s future hanging in the balance. Mr Kammenos’ resignation comes after a row over a name change of neighbouring nation Macedonia, which voted to become the Republic of North Macedonia, sparking fury from the head of the nationalist Independent Greeks party. But with the vote of no confidence now on the cards, Mr Kammenos’s resignation now threatens to collapse the Greek government. He quit and announced he would be taking six other ministers with him in protest at the name change.

Prime Minister Mr Tsipras said: “I have taken my decision and have informed the president of parliament that we will immediately move to the process outlined by the constitution for the renewal of the confidence in my government.” The confidence vote is expected to take place later in the week, with Mr Kammenos’s stating he would not support Mr Tsipras in the ballot. Mr Kammenos’s party had seven MPs, enough to get Tsipras's administration past the threshold of 150 deputies in the 300-member parliament.

The ferociously left-wing Prime Minister forged a coalition with his right-wing deputy in 2015, with the opposites both pledging to bring Greece back from the bring of bankruptcy. The Greek province of Macedonia proved to be a sticking point for the twosome however, with Mr Kammenos believing the name change for the region to become a Republic was an act to attempt to remove it of its Greek sovereignty.

Greece is not the only EU member state to face a no confidence vote on its government. France’s President Emmanuel Macron faced a no confidence vote week ago over the destruction caused by Paris’s Yellow Vest protesters triggered by a spike in fuel costs. UK Prime Minister Theresa May also suffered a no confidence vote over her Brexit deal and like Mr Macron, managed to survive.

But Mrs May is to out of the woods yet. Tomorrow, a meaningful vote on her controversial deal with the EU will take place. The deal aims to keep the UK ties to the EU custom union and single market. </s> Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will face a vote of confidence in parliament after his government's junior coalition partner quit in disagreement over a deal to end a name dispute with Macedonia.

Debate will begin on Tuesday, with a vote late Wednesday, and Tsipras is expected to receive enough support in parliament, Reuters reported.

The vote was called after Defense Minister Panos Kammenos, leader of the Independent Greeks (ANEL), pulled his party out of government following a vote in the Macedonian parliament in which lawmakers supported changing the country's name to North Macedonia to distinguish it from Greece's northern region, also called Macedonia.

Tsipras, whose Syriza party has 145 seats in the 300-seat parliament, as well as the support of one independent lawmaker, only needs the backing of a handful of MPs to survive.

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The coalition government of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras survives a vote of no-confidence brought by the opposition party over a deal to end the dispute.