Greece to support sanctions against Russia – experts

Thursday, January 29, 2015 - 12:32 (EET) Section: Latest news

Greece will probably take moderate stand and will not block the EU sanctions against Russia. Despite the statements by the representatives of the Greek government about blocking up sanctions, such a scenario is unlikely.
This opinion was expressed by the European experts and diplomats interviewed on the eve of the EU Council meeting, AFP reported.
“Most likely, the new Greek authorities will take a moderate stand in the matter of sanctions, but will not block up their introduction. Everybody wants to keep our unity,” the European diplomat said.
According to him, opening multiple fronts simultaneously is not in Greek behalf.
While the former Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt wrote on his Twitter page, that it seemed to him that the new Greek government prefers to have friends in Moscow, not in Brussels, experts do not see how Greece, in the current situation, can unilaterally protect Russian interests against other 27 EU member-countries.
Earlier, head of the Greek diplomacy Nikolaos Kotzias said that Athens could theoretically block new sanctions against Moscow. His colleague, Greek Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis, in turn, noted that Greece opposed European sanctions against Russia.
“They (the Greeks) need to keep all their political capital in order to get the best conditions for economic agreements, and they will not lose this opportunity for Russia,” says director of the Carnegie Endowment’s Brussels branch Jan Techau.
Diplomatic sources of the agency in Brussels predict that, most likely, the European Union will agree on Thursday to expand the black list of persons involved in the escalation of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, but will not accept new economic sanctions against Moscow so far.
As reported, Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union convenes an emergency meeting in Brussels on Thursday, January 29. The foreign ministers of EU member states will discuss the situation in Ukraine and the subsequent strengthening of restrictive measures against Russia.