Declaring Russian diplomats persona non grata is a blow to the Greeks from the former USSR

The Panhellenic Movement of Greek-Russian Friendship party said that the expulsion of Russian diplomats from Greece is a blow to the Greeks living in the country from the former Soviet Union.

In a statement released on Sunday, the party said:

The Greek government’s decision to expel Russian diplomats is a direct blow to the entire community of Greek settlers who came from areas of the former Soviet Union and since 1922 have contributed to the reconstruction of Greece. This decision of the Greek government turns all these settlers against it (it concerns about 30% of the Greek people) and at the same time causes serious concern among the ethnic Greeks of the Black Sea region. This act, combined with the supply of weapons by Greece to Ukraine, is tantamount to an informal declaration of war on the great power that has historically supported our country, including on the issues of Cyprus and the Aegean.

In February, following a fateful decision by the Russian president, the Panhellenic Movement of Greek-Russian Friendship released a statement emphasizing that ethnic Greeks in Ukraine, who had been subjected to terrorism and killings by Ukrainian nationalist paramilitary units for eight years, were freed, thanks to the recognition of the independence of Donbass by the Russian Federation, writes GreekReporter.

On April 6, 12 diplomats from the Russian Embassy in Athens and the Consulate General in Thessaloniki were declared by the Greek government persona non grata. According to the statement of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, these employees “have been declared undesirable persons in accordance with the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963.”

In the comments of the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Maria Zakharova it was noted that the expulsion of Russian diplomats from Greece is “an unprecedented step for bilateral relations that are being sacrificed for” transatlantic solidarity “. Zakharova stressed that the Greek authorities are entirely responsible for the consequences of this decision: “We will take retaliatory measures.”

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