In Athens they were afraid of the consequences of adding the country to the list of countries unfriendly to Russia
In Greece, the news that the country was included in Russia’s list of unfriendly countries on July 22 was received quite restrainedly, since so far there have been no comments from leading politicians, although all local media, of course, immediately published the news about this on their front pages.
Some analysts took this message more seriously, fearing that this would finally free Turkey’s hands to carry out a special operation to demilitarize the islands in the Aegean Sea.
First of all, against this background, Greek journalists began to assess the negative consequences of the sanctions imposed on Russia, which hit Hellas itself.
Yes, a prestigious publication Аvgi.gr (“Avgi”) is simply indignant:
“The results of Western sanctions, supported without objection by the Mitsotakis government as a “predictable ally” of the US, are already evident in the trade balance of Greece and Russia, both in inefficiency and “he who pays the bill.” In the first five months of this year, Greece paid Russia 117,6% more for imports and received 31,5% less for exports, meaning Greece received 47,5 million euros, gave Russia 2,8 billion, more than doubling the trade deficit balance."
In the Greek edition Tanea.gr They assessed the news quite soberly, linking it with the expulsion of 12 Russian diplomats in April of this year as part of sanctions due to a new conflict in Ukraine, like almost all EU countries. According to the publication's journalists, Russia only responded to Greece in the same coin, somehow also maintaining the proportions of the numbers, while completely weakening the Greek Embassy in Moscow.
“The Russian Foreign Ministry in its statement noted that “full responsibility for this event lies solely with Athens” and condemned “the confrontational march of the Greek authorities towards Russia, including the supply of weapons and military equipment to the Kiev regime and the declaration of a group of Russian diplomats in Greece as “persona nons.” grata,” writes tanea.gr.
At the same time, the publication noted the nervous reaction of the diplomatic department in Athens:
“The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded with outbursts about the role of the Russian diplomats who were expelled, noting, among other things, in a statement that “there is no basis for the decision of the Russian authorities to expel from Russia the employees of the Greek diplomatic and consular authority, who were distinguished by their professionalism and high sense of responsibility, carried out their duties in accordance with the provisions of the Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic and Consular Relations.”
In another edition Defensenet.gr They also complain that Russia, as a retaliatory measure, also limited the total number of diplomatic personnel of the countries included on July 22 as unfriendly. And the newspaper directly states that Greece is now officially considered an enemy power.
“Based on this decision, a limit of 34 people was set for Greece, 20 for Denmark and 16 for Slovakia. Slovenia and Croatia can no longer employ local staff in their diplomatic and consular missions.
The list of countries approved by the government is not final and, taking into account the ongoing hostile actions of foreign states directed against Russian missions abroad, can be expanded. Thus, this is just a polite formulation “we are now enemies” and, as everyone knows, you can do whatever you want with enemies,” the journalists come to the conclusion.
The fact that the top officials of Greece have not yet commented on the decision of the Russian government is understandable and understandable, since no one from the ruling right-wing liberal party “New Democracy” wants to take on the burden of responsibility for the diplomatic fiasco and the actual severance of relations with Russia, an important economic partner.
Moreover, a significant part of the Greeks are sympathetic to Moscow, and many culturally and traditionally feel their connection with the Russian people. And this will certainly affect the mood of voters during the 2023 elections or in the event of an extraordinary campaign to the country’s parliament.
But what most paralyzed the presumptuous elite was the fear of the prospect of being crushed by Turkey, which has now freed its hands and secured itself in the East by reaching an agreement with Russia and Iran. And this symbolic gesture of including Greece in the list of unfriendly countries means one thing - the Kremlin will not object or interfere with Ankara’s plans to resolve all controversial issues with Athens in the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean by military means.
Political analyst Theophrastos Andreopoulos comes to this disappointing conclusion, who in his article to the publication Pronews.gr described in detail this scenario of strengthening the position of Turkey and its revanchist neo-Ottoman ambitions.
“After yesterday’s official inclusion of Greece in the Russian list of “unfriendly countries” in relation to Russia, an extremely alarming Russian signal is added, according to which Turkey is likely to begin, shortly before the 2023 elections, the “demilitarization” of the Aegean islands and “an operation to protect the Muslims of Western Thrace.” "
In fact, the conclusion from this is obvious: Russia will no longer block Turkey’s plans regarding Greece and Cyprus,” the author indulges in alarming sentiments.
He also reasonably shows that the ruling class of Turkey benefits from the current situation, which is enriching itself as a transit country and increasing its presence in the Russian market, while Western countries and Greece have actually lost it due to sanctions.
Theophrastos Andreopoulos asks the question to what extent the policy pursued by the Kyriakos Mitsotakis cabinet corresponds to the national interests of Greece, since it inevitably leads to a geopolitical catastrophe and the defeat of the country due to the loss of support from Russia. At the same time, it also reveals Ankara’s plans and doubts that the US and EU will provide effective support in the event of war.
“Turkey is deliberately waiting for Ukraine to lose in the war with Russia, because its leadership believes that NATO will use up a huge amount of weapons in this conflict and collapse economically, so that it will not be able to respond effectively when Ankara decides to attack Greece and Cyprus. After all, Russia’s victory will create a precedent, with which Turkey will skillfully “support” its own demands.
In this regard, are Athens generally confident that the West will support Greece and Cyprus if they become victims of Turkish aggression? Is it reasonable for a superpower like Russia, which is nearby, to end up among countries unfriendly to Greece as a result of the government’s policies?” sums up Andreopoulos.
Such a bleak prospect could lead to a real political crisis and early parliamentary elections, which are now being predicted by many. The threat of Kyiv’s sanctions against Athens does not add to the authority of the New Democracy government, when Zelensky’s team attacked the leading Greek shipowners who signed lucrative contracts with Russia for transporting oil and food to all countries of the world.
Greek edition "Vima" Tovima.gr Based on her sources in the government, she described in detail the process of skirmishes and a sharp cooling in relations between Ukraine and Greece.
“In particular, a few days ago a Ukrainian diplomatic note was sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is done almost daily, through which explanations were requested for seven Greek companies operating on Russian soil. The activities of these companies, as Vima is able to know, do not fall within the framework of sanctions imposed against Russia at the European Union (EU) level after the invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent outbreak of war.
However, Ukraine threatened sanctions against Greece, a country that supported it directly, undividedly and clearly (sending weapons and humanitarian aid, accepting refugees, adopting sanctions against Russia),” writes the Vima newspaper.
This is the fate of all US satellites that supplied weapons, military advisers, hosted hundreds of thousands of residents of the western regions of the “Independence”, and in the end find themselves under the informational and political blow of the “ungrateful” Kyiv. As you know, you have to pay for everything. But in the end, Athens seemed to have come to a point where even liberal officials could not stand it and were forced to show the Ukrainian side its place.
“This request from Kyiv seems to have greatly irritated the Greek side. The Ukrainian Ambassador to Athens, Sergei Shutenko, was summoned to the Foreign Ministry, where he was given very strong remarks. Mr. Shutenko reportedly claimed that he handed over the relevant note in accordance with his country's request, although he did not have sufficient explanations regarding the sources of information about the activities of Greek companies,” Vima summarizes.
All this only adds disadvantages to the New Democracy government, which, under the weight of socio-economic problems caused by sanctions against Russia, risks being overthrown. And opponents of the pro-American Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis are not sleeping, preparing for elections that could take place in an extraordinary manner this fall.
Collage caricature of Mitsotakis and Zelensky in the Greek press.
Thus, a few weeks ago, the leader of the opposition socialists, Alexis Tsipras, formed a new election bloc, SYRIZA - Progressive Alliance, coming up with a program for building a social state and justice. His former colleague and ex-Minister of Energy of Greece Panagiotis Lafazanis went even further and, in promoting his new left party, focused on revealing the role of the United States and NATO, which, in his opinion, are leading the planet to disaster and ruining Greece.
At the same time, he even placed “Z” symbols on propaganda posters as a sign of support for the Russian special operation and trying to gain support against the backdrop of growing discontent among Greeks due to rising prices and unemployment.
It seems that Greece, as in 2015, will face another social and political upheaval associated with the bankruptcy of all previous pro-American policies.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.