Was it "The Economy, Stupid" or the Macedonia Issue? Explaining Voting Preferences During the 2019 Elections in Greece

The 2019 European Parliament and national elections in Greece marked the end of coalition governments and the return of the conservative New Democracy in power. Commentators have been long arguing that the Prime Minister Tsipras' willingness to sign the controversial 'Prespes Agreement' settling the name of the neighbouring country as 'North Macedonia' proved electorally costly for SYRIZA, while others have pointed to the longstanding salience of economic issues. We revisit this debate empirically, by employing public opinion data collected via an online survey where respondents were recruited through advertising in social media. Our empirical strategy allows us to investigate the explanatory power of competing explanations and to explore how foreign policy issues are framed and exploited strategically by different political actors.