Political fears of a Russia-Greece axis are

groundless
Moscow has no interest in bailing out bankrupt Greece - even if it could.
01 Jul 2015 07:57 GMT | Politics, Europe, Greece, IMF, European Union

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Putin and Tsipras arrive for their talks at an investment forum in St Petersburg, Russia [AP]

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

C J Polychroniou
C J Polychroniou is a political economist/political scientist who has taught and worked in Europe and the US.

Ever since the formation of a coalition government in Greece between the radical
leftist Syriza party and the far-right Independent Greeks party (ANEL), many
Western leaders and a sizable portion of media representatives have been
pandering to fears that Europe could lose Greece to Russia.
This situation has gotten a lot worse lately as a result of the deadlock in negotiations
between Greece and its official creditors, with the Greek side walking away from the
negotiation table last week and prolonging the political uncertainty by calling for a

referendum to be held on July 5, thereby raising the stakes and increasing the
prospect of a Grexit.
However, fears of a Russia-Greece axis are not only groundless and absurd,
displaying limitless ignorance of Greek politics and deep or conscious simplicity
regarding history, geopolitics and diplomacy, but damaging to Greece's image and
efforts to pursue its own national interests as it sees fit.
Explained: Latest debt developments in Greece

Political fears of an over-imagined Russia-Greece axis are also consistent with

Western efforts to keep Russia isolated in the international arena.
Greece's future
As far as Greece is concerned, the country has never been allowed in the course of
its modern history to determine its own future.
Following World War II, and just like with the countries that fell under Soviet influence
and control, the Greek people were never offered the option of choosing their system
of government and their political destiny freely.
Greece was incorporated into the Western bloc of nations, with Joseph Stalin's
consent and approval, in spite of the fact that, when the war ends, the Greek
People's Liberation Army (ELAS), which grew out of the National Liberation Front
communist-sponsored resistance organisation, had the overwhelming majority of the
Greek population behind it and controlled over two-thirds of the country.
The US and its allies made sure that Greece remained in the Western bloc by using
savage political and military methods to do so, including providing financial and
military support to right-wing and fascist forces opposing the communists and all
democratically minded groups.

Syriza's overtures towards

Russia did not represent a
turning point in
contemporary Greek
politics, as virtually all
previous Greek
governments sought to
have good economic
relations with Moscow.

In the late 1950s, when the Greek left had recovered after more than 15 years of
brutal persecution and scored impressive gains (over 24 percent) in the elections of
1958, a new round of political sabotage got under way by the CIA and the US
government in order to undermine its growing power.
US post-war intervention in Greek politics culminated in the establishment of a
military junta in April 1967, a coup that sought to prevent Greece's further slide to the
left and the apparent consequences that such a potential development might have
had for US and Western interests in the region.
History repeats
Ironically enough, history does seem to repeat itself, although with new twists and
updated touches.
Following Syriza's election victory earlier this year and the government's expressed
interest in strengthening Greek-Russian relations (as well as relations with China) in
an apparent effort to find some way to boost the Greek economy which has been in
a free fall for the last five years, Western leaders and media pundits begun to speak
of Syriza's dangerous foreign policy pursuits.
So much for the rights of small nations to pursue their own national interests even in
the post-Cold War era. So much also for the freedom of people to choose their own
government without worrying that their elected leaders will be sabotaged from
foreign and stronger political forces.
But who is kidding whom? National self-determination and democracy are just empty
words in Western political and diplomatic culture.

Putin and Tsipras shake hands after their

meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow [AP]

Nonetheless, Syriza's overtures towards Russia did not represent a turning point in
contemporary Greek politics, as virtually all previous Greek governments sought to

have good economic relations with Moscow, and surely was not some kind of an
overarching strategy aiming to create a Russia-Greece axis in order to undermine
Europe.
No Greek elected prime minister would even dare to think along those lines simply
because such an undertaking is impossible given the geopolitical situation in which
Greece finds itself in: A full member of the European Union and the eurozone, a
member of NATO and a close ally of the US. The risks of such an undertaking would
be humongous even if Greece left the euro!
Hence why did the new Greek government express its disagreement with EU
sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine crisis, but did not dare to take the next
step, which would have been was to carry out the threat of a Greek veto?
Hence also why even enhancing military and regional security cooperation with
Russia, something which the current government expressed an interest in doing a
couple of months after it came to power, should not be seen as Greece turning away
from Europe, NATO and the US.

The messages coming out

of Moscow the last few
days add further weight to
the argument that Russia
wants no part in what's
happening in Greece.
However, for some, the fears of a Russia-Greece axis are real, and they draw
support for their reasoning from the late Samuel Huntington's controversial thesis on
"the clash of civilisations", which asserts that orthodoxy places Greece in Russia's
camp.
Ludicrous idea
There is no space here to dwell into the "clash of civilisations thesis", but the mere
fact that the current Greek prime minister is a declared atheist should suffice to throw
the ludicrous idea of a Russian-Greek orthodox axis straight to the wastebasket.
Russia is also fully aware of how far its relati