Even as the foreign minister is confidentially briefing party leaders on developments in national issues, the junior partner in the ruling coalition, and defence minister, Panos Kammenos, is unleashing café-style explosive rhetoric that undermines any government strategy.
With his familiar facile and irresponsible manner, he informed us that the arrest and imprisonment in Turkey of two Greek army officers could last up to 15 years!
Mr. Kammenos, with no sense of his role and responsibility, after disagreeing on the FYROM naming issue, is now fashioning his own, personal line on the country’s other major front: Greek-Turkish relations. He offers sidewalk chat-level analyses and cultivates a climate of danger-mongering, indifferent to the consequences of his words.
He does not even understand that as political supervisor of the armed forces, he bears responsibility for the fate of the two army officers, and is thus obliged, instead of playing the role of commentator on Erdogan’s statements, to do whatever he can to protect them.
There can no longer be any doubt that every time Mr. Kammenos opens his mouth, he becomes a constant threat to national interests and to government policy. His brazen manner, the ease with which he provokes, and his populist approach constitute a perpetual wound, not just for governmental cohesion, but for the interests of the country.
Because he himself does not appear to understand the damage that he does with constant flip-flops and by adopting a personal position, someone should remind him that he represents the country, and not his circle of friends.
It is the responsibility of the prime minister, who appointed him and tolerates him to this day, to put him in his place. Otherwise, he is co-responsible for the damage inflicted on the country’s interests by his select partner.
