| Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Greek Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs George Katrougalos |
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras appointed George Katrougalos on Friday as foreign minister, relinquishing a post he had temporarily filled himself after the departure of Nikos Kotzias in October 2018, the government’s spokesman said on Friday.
The move comes after Greece and Macedonia resolved a decades-old name dispute last month by implementing the ‘Prespes agreement’, which changed the official name of the ex-Yugoslav republic to North Macedonia.
Tsipras took over as foreign minister in October after Kotzias resigned amid reports of a cabinet split over the issue.
“After the successful conclusion … of the Prespes agreement, the prime minister no longer thinks that he should maintain the foreign ministry portfolio,” government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said.
Katrougalos had served as deputy foreign minister, handling European affairs. Lawmaker Sia Anagnostopoulou will replace Katrougalos.
The mini-reshuffle also included another four new deputy ministers at the interior, labour, migration and infrastructure ministries.
The new ministers will be sworn in on Monday, the government spokesman said.