Alavanos in Skopje on Wednesday

[Ellinas]

Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) leader Alekos Alavanos will depart for Skopje on Wednesday to meet top officials of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), noting that he will meet with the country's president and prime minister.

"We believe that neither of the two neighbors should become entrapped in extremist and nationalistic situations, no matter how difficult the problem may be," the veteran leftist leader said in Athens on Monday.

"Conversely, we can meet in the middle of the bridge, and that is why I believe that political dialogue over the current difficult political conditions is always useful," Alavanos said.

Meanwhile, in an unrelated issue, the SYRIZA leader called for the outright banning of private educational institutes in the country that cooperate with European universities, saying such a regime is in conflict with Article 16 of the Greek constitution - the controversial provision that allows only the state to establish and operate higher education institutions in the country.

ANA