Russian-Greek Relations: Is There a Light at the End of the Tunnel?

Abstract

At the end of the first decade of the 21st century, relations between Russia and Greece entered a protracted period of stagnation, which continues to this day, despite numerous attempts by both countries to intensify political dialogue. One of the reasons is the general degradation of Russia’s relations with the Western countries, which intensified in the middle of the last decade against the backdrop of the Ukrainian crisis. At the same time, the “sanctions wars” have become an important, but not the only reason for the reduction in bilateral contacts. There were other factors as well: Greece’s dissatisfaction with the excessively close cooperation between Russia and Turkey, different views on NATO’s Eastern enlargement, as well as interchurch disagreements.

On the economic plane, Russian-Greek cooperation was hampered by the desire of Greece to diversify its energy supplies, the food embargo regime introduced by Russia against the EU countries, as well as the policy of investment protectionism pursued by Greece towards Russian companies.

The greatest success has been achieved in the humanitarian field. Due to the cultural and historical closeness of the two peoples, as well as due to the disappointment of the Greeks in the results of European integration, Greece remains one of the few countries where most people treat Russia with sympathy. At the same time, the perception of Russia by the Greeks is distorted and often fragmentary. The positive effect of Russian-Greek humanitarian cooperation is often overshadowed by negative coverage of Russian foreign policy in the Greek media.