After the protests, Greece refused to supply arms to Ukraine
The decision of the Greek government to stop supplying arms to Ukraine has caused much debate, but it is a clear confirmation of the brewing internal political crisis and the ruling party’s fear of losing support in the run-up to possible snap elections.
This can briefly outline the reason why the cabinet of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, head of the right-wing liberal New Democracy party, took such a step. This was especially evident after the grandiose fiasco during the speech of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky at a meeting of the Greek parliament on April 7, when together with him two militants performed Nazi regiment "Azov" from Mariupol.
Then the three factions refused to participate in the meeting, and many parliamentarians from the centrist and social democrats refused to applaud and even left the meeting room in protest. The political landscape in the country is still feverish after this, so much so that local media widely commented this Tuesday on the death in Mariupol of that same ethnic Greek Azov militant named Mikhail, who spoke before deputies.
Thus, the well-known publication in.gr commented quite negatively on this event, convicting this neo-Nazi of massacres of Russian-speaking residents of Donbass since 2014.
“According to reports, Mikhail was the deputy commander of the Azov battalion in Mariupol, and since 2014 he led the operation against Russian speakers. It is reported that Mikhail was shot dead after a battle that took place near Azovstal. Let us recall that the appearance of two soldiers in parliament in the context of Vladimir Zelensky’s speech in the Greek parliament caused a storm of reaction both from the entire opposition and from users of social networks.
In fact, Mikhail himself admitted that he belonged to the Azov battalion, which acted uncontrollably and with the connivance of the Zelensky presidency, killing Russian-speaking people,” the publication commented.
Mitsotakis simply cannot ignore these sentiments of many Greeks, including those who voted for New Democracy, especially since the main parliamentary opposition in the form of the center-left SYRIZA is hot on his heels. And the attack from the Social Democrats was not long in coming, as they accused the prime minister of moving away from the previous Greek foreign policy doctrine regarding Russia.
Thus, former Greek Foreign Minister Georgios Katrougalos from the SYRIZA party said on April 15 at the third party congress that the current prime minister had actually destroyed the previous structure created by Konstantin Karamanlis after his trip to the USSR in 1979. According to him, despite the fact that Greece is an integral part of the EU, it has nevertheless been for many decades a strategic bridge connecting Europe with Russia.
Moreover, he accused Kyriakos Mitsotakis of turning the country into one continuous springboard of the West, dragging it into the Ukrainian crisis, which is contrary to the original Greek national interests and principles. At the same time, he noted that Russia is not a supporter of the revival of the tsarist empire or the USSR, but seeks to prevent its encirclement by NATO, which it considers an aggressive bloc.
He condemned Western and Greek politicians advocating an escalation of the war, noting that “those who call for a change in the Russian leadership are, in fact, ready to sacrifice the Ukrainian people to their political ambitions.” At the same time, he called for a diplomatic resolution of the conflict, and not for continuing to drag Kyiv into the war until the very last Ukrainian soldier.
In their statement, the Greek communists on their party information resource KKE.gr spoke out even more sharply, protesting against the government’s policy of dragging the country into the imperialist plans of NATO and the United States.
“By sending military materials to Ukraine on the instructions of NATO, the government of the New Democracy Party is increasing the country’s involvement in an imperialist war that is developing on an unpredictable scale and with great danger to the people. The country’s armed forces have nothing to do outside its borders, and Greek territories, infrastructure and resources cannot be used as springboards for military operations, as is the case with military bases in Alexandroupolis and Stefanovikeo,” the press service of the Communist Party of Greece states in a statement.
Considering the still significant negative attitude of the Greeks directed against the country's participation in anti-Russian sanctions and actions, already on April 14, Nikos Panagiotopoulos, the Greek Minister of Defense, announced that Athens would no longer send military materials or weapons to Ukraine. And this is not a symbolic gesture at all, but a desire to maintain some kind of economic and diplomatic ties with Russia.
The fact is that, in addition to significant political and image losses, part of the ruling elite is also dissatisfied with the fact that Washington, represented by State Department representative Nuland, is imposing enslaving conditions on Athens for the purchase of expensive American liquefied gas and the cessation of any work with Moscow under gas contracts. It is in this regard that the government of the republic decided to intensify geological development in order to search for and produce its hydrocarbon reserves.
Exploration projects have now been upgraded to national level and are currently underway in six areas in the Epirus region and five others in the offshore areas of the Ionian Sea, the Gulf of Kyparissia and Crete. But these are all long-term plans that will not be realized soon, when crisis phenomena are developing in Greece itself due to rising prices for all types of fuel and the standard of living of the majority of citizens is sharply falling.
In this regard, there is a desire to continue cooperation in the energy sector with Moscow, so as not to roll back into the Hellenistic period.
This position is also influenced by neighboring Turkey, which not only did not introduce anti-Russian sanctions, but, on the contrary, is increasing trade turnover and is now reaping numerous benefits as an international logistics and transport hub. Naturally, Ankara, as a rival and potential adversary of Athens, is now sharply strengthening and will increase its pressure in the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean.
But these actions of the members of the New Democracy government are contradictory, like all neoliberals, who, on the one hand, understand that Greece is sliding into the abyss and as the weak link of the EU will suffer the most from the fuel and food crisis, but on the other hand, being dependent on Washington forced to constantly show loyalty to their overlord. In this they differ little from other European politicians, especially in their anti-Russian exercises.
Such new unfriendly steps by the New Democracy government include the recent expulsion of 12 Russian diplomats as part of the “solidarity” campaign with Ukraine and a letter from Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias to the Hague Tribunal requesting an investigation into the “war crimes” of the Russian army in Mariupol.
“We will continue to urgently raise the issue of Mariupol in all forums and emphasize that the commission of war crimes must be thoroughly investigated. That is why I wrote to the Prosecutor General of the International Criminal Court with a request to investigate the commission of crimes both in Mariupol and in the villages of Sartana and Volnovatsa, where, let us recall, at the beginning of the war we had victims of foreigners from air fire. However, evacuation operations from Ukraine continue continuously,” comments Nikos Dendias in an interview with kathimerini.gr.
But these actions immediately caused a backlash. Thus, a statement of protest was published on the website of the Panhellenic Movement of Greek-Russian Friendship party pakief.gr.
“The Greek government’s decision to expel Russian diplomats is a direct blow to the entire community of Greek settlers who came from areas of the former Soviet Union and have contributed to the reconstruction of Greece since 1922.
This decision of the Greek government turns all these settlers against it (affects about 30% of the Greek people) and at the same time causes serious concern among the ethnic Greeks of the Black Sea region. This act, combined with Greece’s supply of weapons to Ukraine, amounts to an informal declaration of war on a great power that has historically supported our country, including on the topics of Cyprus and the Aegean Sea,” the document says.
The fact that many Greeks support Russia in the conflict with Ukraine is demonstrated by car rallies and demonstrative fundraising efforts among large entrepreneurs. By the way, thanks to active public pressure, it was possible to catch two pro-Ukrainian neo-Nazis who attacked a convoy of cars with Russian and Greek flags in early April. Therefore, the current harsh perception of the actions of the government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis on the part of many Greeks will certainly affect both the growth of protest sentiments and the results of the next parliamentary elections.
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