You're reading: Syriza position in EU calls for Ukraine’s effective diplomacy

Extended European Union sanctions against Russia are expected to be passed finally during the Brussels summit on Feb. 12. However, the position of Greece, which elected far left pro-Russian leaders at Jan. 25 parliamentary elections, threatens to disrupt the process.

Restrictive
measures will likely include extended lists of Russian companies and
individuals, which are now being prepared by European diplomatic service and
the European Commission. Experts say reinforced sanctions seem vital for
Ukraine as it keeps suffering from Russian aggression.

An
extraordinary meeting of the EU Council on Jan. 29, dedicated to the war in Donbas, was the first
international official event for the Syriza party, the leftist winner of Greece
election. And the first misunderstandings have stood out as the sanction
schedule was announced.

Prime
Minister of Greece and the Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras in a telephone
conversation with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security
Policy Federica Mogherini expressed dissatisfaction, accusing EU leaders that
they had not consulted with Greece before deciding on the upcoming sanctions on
Moscow.

Greek
Foreign Minister Nikos Kotsias has also blocked voting for the restrictive
measures extending directly during EU Council meeting. After a two-hour debate
Greek Mission eventually agreed to vote for resolution against Russia –
 but only for its milder version.

In
particular, Kotsias insisted that the words concerning Russian responsibility
for the situation in Donbas were deleted from the final press-release. The
approved resolution doesn’t add new sanctions, but expands the existing ones,
that were passed in September of 2014.

European
leaders perceive such Greek diplomacy as political blackmail. In their opinion,
Greece is going to sell its votes, looking for the relief of external debt to
the International Monetary Fund and reception of new loans to
deal with the financial crisis instead.

“Greece
is a Trojan horse. It will bargain or will release armed soldiers out of its
belly. This brown-red coalition (in Greek parliament) will go against
sanctions. And they may approach this as a money issue and just cynically give
Brussels a bill,” said MEP Jacek Saryusz-Wolski on Jan. 30.

On the
other hand, experts say that Greece plays along with the Kremlin. According to
the Deputy Director of the Institute of World Policy Sergey Solodky, present
Greece is a strategic geopolitical partner for Moscow no matter how radical
Syriza`s position on Ukraine is.

The newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece Nikos Kotsіas (far left) with Alexander Dugin, the ideologist of Russian imperialism and the inspirer of the “Novorossiya” project (in the middle)

“The
closer Tsypras was getting to victory, the less radical he was becoming.
However, this does not contradict the fact that Tsypras plays role of a Moscow
puppet at the same time”, said Solodky.

Several
facts point at Syriza`s importance for the Kremlin.

According
to GR Reporter, Tsypras has organized a special visit to Moscow on May, 8,
2014, having refused at the same time to participate in the first debate
between the contenders for the post of President of the European Commission,
referring to the busy schedule.

During
the meeting with Head of the Russian Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko,
who is among most active supporters of Crimea annexation, Tsypras blamed EU,
European Commission and IMF for “intention to create cheap labor force in the
peripheral countries and buy their national wealth.”

According
to Tsypras such scenario expects Ukraine too, unless it begins constructive
dialogue with Russia.

Apparently, such prioritizing closer ties with Moscow
can prove beneficial for newly elected Greek government, as Russia
has already declared its willingness to provide financial assistance to Athens.
According to Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, Greece has not asked Russia
for help yet, but Russia would agree to help it out. 

Experts
believe that Greece will not make any sudden political movements in the nearest
future for fear of being excluded from the EU. But Ukraine, they say, should be
careful. Developing  close bilateral relations with Greece may help hold
back the threat.

“Ukraine
should pursue a more active policy towards Greece. It was the meeting of the
foreign ministers of Ukraine and Greece on the eve of the summit of Jan. 29
that lifted Greece`s bias on the resolution against Russia. This is an example
of the effective diplomacy that we need now,” said the Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Ukraine to the Republic of Greece Volodymyr
Shkurov.

Kyiv Post staff writer
Kostiantyn Yanchenko can be reached at [email protected]