Antonis Samaras played the card name dispute at the pre-electoral meeting in Thessaloniki. Greek outgoing Prime Minister, who is remembered as the man who broke Konstantinos Mitsotakis’ Government in the 90s of last century, due to hard positions on the name dispute, in a speech in Thessaloniki send a message that he will not allow the history and the identity of Macedonia to be negotiated.
This is the first time a Greek Prime Minister to speak of identity and language, which are usually Macedonian arguments in its address to Greece.
– Just to remind them that the decision of our people is: we won’t negotiate with our history, our identity or our language – emphasized Samaras.
He played the card of emotions of the citizens of Thessaloniki for the name dispute, linking himself personally to the history of Thessaloniki and Macedonia.
– You know that I have Macedonia in my soul. Macedonia is the eternal bastion of Greece. Here, in the country of Vergina, the country of Amphipolis, Macedonia’s past is speaking, the voice of history, which is also the voice of our conscience, is speaking. Macedonia is the past, present and future of Greece – said Samaras emotionally.
In his well-known style, Samaras attempted to attack SYRIZA for allegedly treasonous, open positions towards Macedonia and the free use of its constitutional name and for the mention of the Macedonian language.
Apart from the announcement of numerous economic and infrastructure investments, Samaras said that he also plans to focus on development and tourist use of the archaeological site of Amphipolis.
In his tactics to play the emotional patriotic card, Samaras used the term Macedonia 22 times in his address to the citizens of Thessaloniki.
