In “Dangerous Liaisons” by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos (a successful film by Stephen Frears), a bet of romantic seduction between the Marquise de Merteuil and the Viscount de Valmont evolves into an extremely dangerous situation for those who unintentionally become part of a game they did not understand. In the Greek version of Laclos’ novel, particularly within the internal dynamics of the New Democracy party, the events are set against the “calm waters of the Aegean,” which have begun to produce dangerous ripples.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Antonis Samaras are now on diametrically opposite paths. The Prime Minister strategically chose yesterday to “strike” his former political ally, using Nikos Pappas—the absolute “face of evil” for the anti-SYRIZA front.

The Prime Minister’s reference to those who “joke” with Mr. Pappas while he chooses to leave the parliament room when he takes the podium as the president of the SYRIZA parliamentary group “enraged” Antonis Samaras, who decided to publicize his renewed irritation through “associates.”

The Front for National Issues

Mr. Samaras wanted to make it clear through his “associates” that he was not responding to the “jokes,” but rather because he fundamentally disagrees with the “calm waters” strategy. He previously stated this in Cyprus, but the government partially chose not to rise to the challenge. He responded that the Prime Minister’s views are respected, but Mr. Samaras, as Prime Minister, also engaged with the Turks, and during his tenure, exploratory talks took place.

This time, the former Prime Minister was clearer and sharper. He spoke of an “attack” by Mr. Mitsotakis against him. He attributed the Prime Minister’s annoyance to his comments on national issues. He chose his words very carefully, referring to “jokes” regarding the Mitsotakis-Erdoğan contacts, “short-lived friendship agreements” concerning the “Athens Declaration,” and “submissions,” implicitly criticizing George Gerapetritis. Moreover, despite Mr. Gerapetritis’ briefing to New Democracy MPs the day before, Mr. Samaras remains unconvinced that a “dangerous” solution regarding the Aegean is not being “cooked up,” as he said days ago.

The Prime Minister’s Stance and Limits of Tolerance

Samaras’ latest outburst (which tends to become a weekly episode) did not particularly move the Prime Minister’s office. “We do not comment on anything,” government officials monotonously stated. This was also the directive given in the WhatsApp group of the “morning coffee,” not from Mr. Mitsotakis, who was arriving in Belgrade. Of course, behind the scenes, government officials noted that publicly, Mr. Mitsotakis said what he wanted to say and confirmed that the phrase did not “slip” out. “Mitsotakis is an experienced political player and decided to say something he knew would irritate Samaras and push him toward an overreaction,” said a knowledgeable source about their “bilateral relationship.” It is not coincidental that Mr. Mitsotakis attempted to remove Kostas Karamanlis from the picture, defending his maneuvers in 2009. He knows that on the other side, Mr. Samaras is trying to make appearances “packaged” with Mr. Karamanlis to achieve maximum impact.

When asked if the Prime Minister’s office would officially respond to Samaras’ challenge, the answer is negative. It is indeed considered difficult for government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis to say “no comment” without some addition in today’s briefing for political reporters. However, the Prime Minister’s office understands that a confrontation through “circles” and “associates” could be a desirable development for the experienced “guerilla warfare” strategist Antonis Samaras. They do not want to play that game.

Certainly, everything in life has a limit of tolerance. A breaking point, some might call it. In this case, much will depend on the “dynamics” produced by the meeting between Gerapetritis and Fidan, if it produces any. In any case, Mr. Samaras remains a New Democracy MP, although the channels with the Maximos Mansion are now nonexistent. In this environment, as protothema.gr has pointed out before, much will be decided in the vote for the budget. It will be there that it will be revealed whether the Mitsotakis-Samaras “front” will remain at the level of sporadic skirmishes or escalate further.