Greece: Russians expelled over cash-for-protests allegation

[muriel_volestrangler]

(this happened a week ago, but I only just saw it. It still seems highly relevant)

Greece has moved to expel two Russian diplomats accused of supplying funds to protest groups opposing a deal that would end Greece’s longstanding name dispute with neighboring Macedonia, a Greek official said Thursday.

The expulsions were confirmed the day after NATO formally invited Macedonia to join the western military alliance pending the agreement’s successful completion. Moscow opposes any expansion of NATO, particularly if it involves nations Russia sees as within its natural sphere of influence.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told Greek reporters in Brussels after a NATO summit ended Thursday that he was obliged “to defend the national sovereignty” of Greece, but did not refer to Russia or the expulsions directly.

“We seek good relations with most countries — not only the ones in our neighborhood,” Tsipras said. “But we do demand that all countries respect our international legitimacy and national sovereignty.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/source-russian-money-for-macedonia-protests-upset-greece/2018/07/12/94cb9006-85d0-11e8-9e06-4db52ac42e05_story.html

see also https://www.democraticunderground.com/113321754 . Background:

Both Alexis Tsipras in Greece and Zoran Zaev in Northern Macedonia have been accused of treason by ultra-nationalists. Zaev’s predecessor, Nikola Gruevski, and his party promoted for years the idea that their people are the true heirs to the legacy of Alexander the Great and ancient Macedon. Greece saw this not only as a false claim with no historical basis, but also as a sign of irredentism. With Zaev and Tsipras in charge, common ground between the countries was easier to find.

The supposedly centrist Greek opposition leader, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, opted to join the nationalist wave, to avoid a split in his right-wing New Democracy party. Encouraged by MPs such as Adonis Georgiadis, the ND’s deputy leader, who joined the party in 2012 after leaving the far-right LAOS, Mitsotakis has sided fully with the protesters, promising not to vote for the deal when it comes before parliament.

Extremist elements are stepping in to take advantage of the situation. A party modelled on Italy’s Lega Nord is being formed in northern Greece. Two Russian diplomats have been expelled from Greece, and two others have been barred from entering the country. They are accused of attempting to bribe officials in the north and in Athens, in order to stoke unrest around the deal. Zaev has said that Greek businessmen ‘sympathetic to the Russian cause’ have been paying hooligans to start violent protests.

The hardening of political discourse spells trouble for the most vulnerable. A 16-year-old Syrian boy was shot last week by a farmer in Lesvos, where for weeks the far-right has been agitating against refugees. The Jewish memorial in Thessaloniki has been defaced time and time again. An academic was attacked outside the city’s university by protesters, just weeks after a similar attack on the mayor, Yiannis Boutaris. A social centre was set on fire last month; protesters, goaded on by members of the Golden Dawn, were heard chanting: ‘a knife in the heart of every anti-fascist’ and ‘anarchists and bolsheviks, this land doesn’t belong to you.’ In Greece, as elsewhere, a convincing answer against the rise of the authoritarian right has yet to be found.

https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2018/07/17/yiannis-baboulias/the-macedonian-question/

[eppur_se_muova]

1. Proof once again that Uglicans project ... nt