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> 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.

Read this next: Gdańsk mayor dies after stabbing </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> The leader of the Independent Greeks, Panos Kammenos, has withdrawn from Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s coalition government, prompting Tsipras to say that he would seek a vote of confidence from the Parliament in Athens.

In his statements, the Greek Prime Minister announced that he would ask for a vote of confidence from Parliament, in order, he said, for the work of the Government to continue.

Tsipras said that he had accepted the resignation of Kammenos as Minister of National Defence and said that he would be replaced by the Chief of Staff of the Hellenic Armed Forces, Evangelos Apostolakis.

The entire statement of the Greek Prime Minister:

To continue reading, please click here. </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> 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> 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> ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis called for the resignation of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Sunday after a European Parliament election result which Mitsotakis’s party won.

“It is obvious that the Greek people have withdrawn their confidence in this government .. The Prime Minister must assume his responsibilities. He must resign and the country should hold national elections the soonest possible.”

Early election results showed Mitsotakis’s New Democracy party leading Tsipras’s Syriza party by up to nine points. At present, elections are scheduled to be held in October.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras survives a no-confidence vote after the Independent Greeks party quit the ruling coalition.