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GreekReporter.comGreeceUK Paper Says Russian 'Meddling' over FYROM Deal Behind Greek Expulsions

UK Paper Says Russian 'Meddling' over FYROM Deal Behind Greek Expulsions


A report in the U.K.’s Financial Times newspaper has claimed Russian “meddling” in northern Greece is what lead to the expulsion of two Moscow diplomatic staff this week.
Saturday’s story focused on Alexandroupoli in northern Greece where it is claimed the two Russians engaged in paid lobbying in the region, particularly against the ‘North Macedonia‘ deal.
The deal has paved the way for NATO to make an offer of membership talks to Skopje this week.
The FT reported: “The Russian diplomats are believed to have made payments to far-right groups through a local Greek businessman. ‘You can buy a lot of support for €20,000-€30,000 in places like Alexandroupolis where unemployment is high and young people are fed up with all the existing political parties,’ one person said.”
One Western diplomat was quoted as saying: “It’s quite a sophisticated operation that takes place under the cover of promoting longstanding cultural ties between Greece and Russia and their shared Orthodox religious heritage.”
The FT also quotes political analyst Costas Iordanides who says the region’s population of Pontian Greeks — ethnic Greeks and Russian-speakers who once lived in the Soviet Union before migrating to Greece — were a “natural target Russian activism”.
The expelling of Russian diplomats is unprecedented in Greece which, even during the Cold War, did not remove Kremlin staff from the country.
Alexis Tsipras’ left-wing SYRIZA party has also tried to maintain cordial relations with the Kremlin.
However, this week’s incident has seen a new deterioration in relations between Athens and Moscow.

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