Greek and Russian flags fly together. Demotix/VASSILIS TRIANTAFYLLIDIS. All rights reserved.During Costas Karamanlis’ term in office as PM (2004-2009), the Greek government sped up bilateral cooperation with Russia in energy issues. Apart from economic considerations, this foreign policy resonated with the public mood in Greece vis-à-vis the US. George W. Bush’s reckless foreign policy in the Middle East was met with bitter discontent.
Various segments across Greece’s political spectrum saw a guarantee that Western arbitrariness in Global Politics would be regulated if Russia emerged as a potent global actor. George A. Papandreou, who succeeded Karamanlis in 2009, assumed a more pro-Atlantic stance and froze the major projects of energy cooperation between Greece and Russia (e.g. the Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline). Nevertheless, the outbreak of the financial crisis in 2010/2011 brought about the decline of popular confidence in New Democracy and, especially, PASOK.
As soon as the SYRIZA/Independent Greeks coalition took over in January 2015, it expressed both parties’ discontent over a second round of sanctions on Russia. The Greek government couched its reservations in economic jargon. It stressed the negative impact new sanctions would have on Greek exports to Russia and, by extension, on the country’s trajectory towards recovery from the economic crisis. The value of total trade between Greece and Russia reached 9.3 billion Euros in 2013, surpassing trade flows between Greece and fellow EU-member Germany.
