Government spokesman Gabriel Sakellaridis told private ANT1 TV on Tuesday that the name of SYRIZA’s candidate for the post of the President of the Republic will be announced soon.

“When the prime minister returns to Greece and the parliament opens, there will be an announcement of the name of the candidate and then we will proceed smoothly with the election,” Sakellaridis noted.

With regard to the possibility of a meeting between the Greek prime minister and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Government spokesman said that the Greek side has not made any moves yet and underlined that it’s a long time until February 12, when the European Union summit is scheduled to take place.