Charis Doukas, going against the official line of PASOK, declared his… admiration for Alexis Tsipras for the Prespes Agreement.
At the event for Yiannis Boutaris, where Alexis Tsipras and Charis Dukas were together, the mayor of Athens probably wanted to “cajole” the former prime minister, as he more or less declared support for the Prespes Agreement.
At the event, Alexis Tsipras spoke about the Prespes Agreement, stating that he was proud of its achievement. Then Charis Doukas took the floor, who not only did not disagree but wanted to overstate what the former prime minister said, stating that the… nationalist feelings of both sides had to be mitigated.
That is, Greece’s demand that Skopje not claim the name Macedonia and its history, according to Charis Doukas, was a demand of… nationalist nature and that was apparently resolved by the Prespa Accords. Which essentially gave Skopje what they had been absurdly demanding for decades to win Alexis Tsipras a tie.
As the mayor of Athens said, winking at what Alexis Tsipras said, “Yiannis Boutaris took a clear stand on the Prespa Accord and in his wisdom estimated that it would bring good results. He had told the FT that “we need to work hard with Athens and Skopje to implement it and blunt nationalist sentiments on both sides”.
Satisfaction at Charilaou Trikoupis
Remember here that PASOK was then negative on the agreement, so here Charis Dukas went against the party line for the eyes of Alexis Tsipras. And probably not by accident.
Many say that the mayor of Athens will play a key role in the supposedly progressive front after the elections and mainly in consultation with Alexis Tsipras. Therefore, the presence of the two at the event and the flattering words of Charis Doukas on the Prespes Agreement serve a specific strategy.
After all, Charis Doukas did not only dwell on the Prespes Agreement but went on to say that it proved that convergence and cooperation in politics are needed, causing irritation to Nikos Androulakis.
According to Charilaou Trikoupis, Charis Doukas not only said the opposite of what PASOK was saying at the time about the agreement, but showed himself to be in line with the former prime minister on the narrative of creating a progressive front.
However, there were many former or disgruntled PASOK executives at the event, including Antonis Saoulidis, Marizetta Antonopoulou, Anna Papadopoulou and Giorgos Bulbasakos, and that says a lot about the political nature of the event.
