Ahead of the visit of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to Moscow, the Greek-Russian Joint Interministerial Committee signed a cooperation protocol that includes a series of agreements on tourism, energy, transport, science and technology cooperation, inter-regional cooperation, cultural issues, as well as issues relating to tax administration.
The protocol was signed by Greek Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs Miltiadis Varvitsiotis and Russian Transport Minister Vitaly Saveliev, in Moscow on Tuesday.
“The Cooperation Protocol is a successful agreement that paves the way for a new, deeper collaboration between Greece and Russia, and lays the foundations for a productive and successful visit by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis,” Varvitsiotis said after the signing.
The Greek premier is scheduled to visit Moscow on December 8 and meet with president Vladimir Putin most possible in Socchi.
Some Greek analysts predict a difficult meeting arguing that conservative Greek government has adopted an anti-Russian rhetoric, is leaning more and more pro-USA thus abandoning the balances previous governments were following, even conservative ones.
“The Mitsotakis government has overthrown the balances that Greece has maintained for decades and has kept warm relations with Moscow, despite the fact that Athens blindly follows the policy of NATO and the EU,” writes analyst Sotiris Sideris. He adds, among others, that Greece blindly follows the US-policies against Russia and notes that “US-bases in Greece aiming to “encircle and weaken Russia.”
Full analysis in Greek here.
