PM Tsipras on Antenna TV: National Elections in October, No Snap Vote

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said that national elections will be held as scheduled in October 2019, speaking on Antenna (ANT1) TV's main newscast on Monday evening. 

Tsipras also said in an interview that he was "used to losing in referendums, but winning at the ballot box," and added this is a strategic choice that will not change because it signifies a return of Greece to normality. 

The PM also said he has rejected suggestions to hold snap elections as politically more beneficial, and stressed that the upcoming May 26 elections will only concern the "critical Euroelections and local government elections."

Concerning the Prespes Agreement, Tsipras said it was a good opportunity to resolve a dispute after thirty years despite the political cost, and that his predecessors would have done the same, had they been in similar circumstances, adding that the Prespes Agreement has achieved the best possible outcome for Greece. 

"We used to call people in North Macedonia by the name of their capital, 'Skopjans'," said the Greek premier, stressing that his government implemented a national line that existed since 2004.