Greek Defense Minister Panos Caminos, a key ally of Prime Minister Alexis Tsebras's coalition, announced today his resignation before the next vote on the new name of Macedonia, which he strongly opposes.
"The issue of Macedonia does not allow me not to sacrifice my position," he said in a direct statement to television cameras after a meeting with the prime minister, "withdrawal" members of his party "from the government."
"I thanked the prime minister for our cooperation and explained to him that we can not continue because of this national issue."
Caminos leads the ruling Anil party, which usually holds seven votes for Tsebras in parliament.
His withdrawal could destabilize the government coalition ahead of the October legislative elections, which could be scheduled for May to coincide with European elections.
The Tsipras coalition has 153 seats in the 300-seat parliament, including 145 from the prime minister's leftist Syriac party.
Macedonian parliamentarians agreed on Friday to change their country's name to "the Republic of Northern Macedonia" in a historic vote with a two-thirds majority that would pave the way for resolving the row with Greece.
The ball is now in the Greek court because the name will only be changed if the Greek parliament approves the agreement reached by Prime Ministers Zoran Zaiev and Alexis Tsipras last summer.