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Anastasia Balezdrova

Russian President Vladimir Putin invited Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to visit Moscow on the 9th of May. In the telephone conversation between the two in which Putin congratulated Tsipras for the electoral success of his party, he invited him to the celebration of "the victory of the peoples over Nazism."

For his part, the Greek Prime Minister stressed the importance of the fight against Nazism and expressed his intention to accept the invitation. Therefore, on the day when united Europe will celebrate Europe Day Alexis Tsipras will be at the military parade in Moscow.

According to the Greek media, the two leaders had discussed various topics during the conversation, paying particular attention to the situation in Ukraine and sharing the opinion that peace and stability in the region should be restored. At the same time, Vladimir Putin expressed his satisfaction with the position of Athens during the meeting of EU foreign ministers, which discussed the imposition of additional sanctions on Russia for its policy towards Ukraine.

Government sources define as a positive development the invitations to the Prime Minister and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defence to visit Moscow on the 9th of May. In parallel, however, they do not share the scenarios under which Greece could seek funding from Russia, stressing that Athens is seeking support to solve its financial problems only from its European partners, as reported by the Greek daily Kathimerini.

Meanwhile, a number of developments have raised concerns about the probability of Greece’s geopolitical orientation changing. One of the first actions of Alexis Tsipras as Prime Minister was to resent the way in which the European Union had taken its decision against Russia. Revelations followed afterwards, according to which Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Kotzias had maintained contacts with Russian nationalist Aleksandr Dugin and pieces of information from Greek correspondents in Moscow, according to which Russia had expressed readiness to consider Greece’s possible request for financial assistance.

According to former Minister Andreas Andrianopoulos, the scenarios taccording to which these events are indicative of the shift in Greek foreign policy are greatly exaggerated. During a discussion on "Is a turn in foreign policy possible in times of turbulence?", which was held in the Institute of Diplomacy and International Relations that he heads, he said that the fact that the Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs had organised a lecture of Dugin at Piraeus University did not mean that he aimed to orient Greece to the Eurasian Union. "As we have seen, Nikos Kotzias has fully accepted the proposals of the EU for Russia. And this is because Greece will have no future if it "shakes the Europe ship". At the same time, the country has no reason to directly confront Russia," he added.

In his words, Athens seems to have the support of the US and Great Britain. "What might be risky is if the country becomes an instrument of pressure between the US and Central Europe. At a time when the two sides agree there is a risk of the "instrument" finding itself on the ground," said Andrianopoulos.

He defined the new Greek cabinet as inexperienced. "The government's actions are not particularly skilful and although they satisfy its supporters they are not particularly conducive to the observance of the necessary balance in international relations." He categorically rejected the assessment that the Greek government is applying the "game theory", both in economy and in international relations, pointing out that the players in it are equivalent, whereas the position of Greece is far from being described as favourable.

Historian Thanos Veremis supported the view that a direct confrontation with Russia would not be in favour of Greece, saying with irony, "In Greece we must cease to perceive Russia as the communist Soviet Union on the one hand and as the legendary" blond race" which will save us from an unknown thing on the other. Russia is a country that now has its own financial and other problems. As for Ukraine, a good Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs would be well acquainted with history in order to explain to his European colleagues that things there are not simple, that at least one third of Ukrainians are with pro-European and anti-Russian disposition."

Veremis expressed hope that rationalism will prevail in the new Greek cabinet, not the sentimentally taken decisions. "In this regard, I could never understand the decision of Andreas Papandreou to maintain such close relations with the Arab world at the expense of those with Israel, which are strategically important for Greece’s interests. Let us hope that the internationalist currents in SYRIZA will not prevail, but those which are in favour of Greek interests."
 
He concluded: "Greek society is so confused by the populism of recent decades that the division in the near future will not be left - right but reason - madness. Let us hope that we will be on the right side and it will prevail."