“Deepening
ties between Greece's new government and Russia have set off alarm
bells across Europe, as the leaders in Athens wrangle with
international creditors over reforms needed to avoid bankruptcy.
While Greece may be eyeing Moscow as a bargaining chip, some fear it
is inexorably moving away from the West, towards a more benevolent
ally, a potential investor and a creditor. Europe is not pleased.
Should it also be worried?”
“A
drove of Greek cabinet members will be heading to Moscow. Prime
Minister Alexis Tsipras will be hosted by Russian President Vladimir
Putin in May, accompanied by coalition partner Panos Kammenos,
defence minister and leader of the populist right-wing Independent
Greeks party. The timing has not escaped analysts. Greece's bailout
extension expires at the end of June and the worst kept secret in
Brussels is that Athens will need new loans to stay afloat.”
“Officially,
Greece is not searching for alternative sources of funding. But a
loan from Russia, or perhaps China, could seem a more favourable
alternative - or at least supplement - to any new eurozone bailout
with all its unpopular measures and reforms attached. Greece could
look forward to cheaper gas for struggling households, increased
Russian investment and tourism to provide a much needed economic
boost. Moscow, in return, would be rewarded with a friendly ally with
veto power inside the EU at a time of heightened tensions over the
Ukraine crisis.”
“A
global survey by the Pew Research Center from September 2013 found
that 63% of Greeks held favourable views of Russia. Only 23% of
Greeks had a positive view of the EU last autumn, in the latest
Eurobarometer survey.”
“More
recently, the 2004-09 conservative government of Costas Karamanlis,
nephew of the veteran pro-Western statesman, pursued a 'diplomacy of
the πιπελίνες', envisaging Greece as a gateway for Russian
oil and gas to Europe. It was a policy that enraged Greece's Western
allies. After he lost elections in 2009, it emerged that Russia's FSB
security agency had warned its Greek counterpart, EYP, of a 2008 plot
to assassinate Mr Karamanlis to halt his pro-Moscow energy alliance.”
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