April 26, 2024

Athens News

News in English from Greece

Zakharova burst into criticism of Mitsotakis because of statements in the United States

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova criticized Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ comments last week during his trip to the US for holding,

according to her, analogies between the freedom fighters of the Greek Revolution 200 years ago “and the crimes committed by the regime in Kyiv against the civilians of Donbass for eight years.”

Also, the representative of the Russian Foreign Minister noted that “Athens is trying to justify its decision to join the anti-Russian front among the first.”

At the same time, she described the statement of Kyriakos Mitsotakis in relation to Mariupol as at least “unsuccessful”, when he compared the defenders of the city with Messolonghi.

“Mitsotakis provided a strange set of historical analogies,” the Russian news agency quoted Maria Zakharova as saying. TASS. – The national liberation struggle of the Greeks two hundred years ago turned out to be tantamount to the criminal actions of the Kyiv regime, which fought against its citizens in the Donbass for eight years. It is hard to believe that the heroes during the defense of the Greek fortress of Messolonghi in 1825 were put on the same level with the Nazis from the Azov regiment.

According to the Russian news agency TASS, she ridiculed Mitsotakis for offering “a strange selection of historical analogies.” She added that “it is unbelievable that the heroes who defended the Messolonghi fortress in 1825-26 are compared to the Nazis of the Order of Azov. This is yet another attempt by Athens to justify its deeply flawed decision to join the Western anti-Russian front, including the supply to Kyiv of weapons used to strike civilians in Donbas on a daily basis.”

“Faced with many accusations, Russia is unable to offer an alternative vision as all Russian media have been excluded from Greek,” Zakharova said, adding that the comment coming from Greece is a manifestation of her loyalty to the rules imposed by the US.

A fragment of Mitsotakis’s speech before the Congress, which caused applause from the audience and criticism from Zakharova:

Speaking of “special ties between the two peoples in an era when our values ​​are being tested”, today we should replace the name “Greece” with the war for independence from Ukrainewhere the defenders of the city of Mariupol defended their city, like the fighters of Mesolonga in 1826, who preferred death to the loss of freedom.

He emphasized democratic values ​​as allies NATO oppose Russian aggression in Ukraine, and told U.S. lawmakers that their shared values ​​are “once again being tested:

Our common faith is in the victory of freedom over tyranny, democracy over authoritarianism, in the fundamental importance of respecting the rule of law over war and anarchy.

without naming TurkeyMitsotakis referred to the “open wound” Cyprus and ongoing overflights of uninhabited and inhabited islands and islets, and violations Greek national sovereignty.

“The language of nostalgia for the empire cannot continue. Please do not forget the open wound: I mean the invasion and division of Cyprus. This issue must be resolved in accordance with international law and UN resolutions. The same applies to all other regional conflicts,” he said and continued, “Greece always extends the hand of friendship to its neighbors, but there is only one basis for resolving disputes with our neighbors – international law. We will not tolerate violations of our national sovereignty. Flights over the Greek islands must cease immediately. I urge you to take into account the risk of instability in the southeastern wing of NATO when making decisions on the supply of military equipment to the region.”

It is recalled that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is also annoyed by the speech of Mitsotaki, who said that “the Prime Minister of Greece no longer exists for him” after the cabinet meeting in Turkey.

It is worth noting that if in general the Greeks reacted positively to the statements regarding Turkey, then the comparison of Mariupol with Messolonga caused criticism even among the supporters of Mitsotakis, who did not fail to notice that it was Russia that made the most important contribution to the Greek national liberation struggle, and such comparisons humiliate primarily Greece.

PS Even his party colleagues criticized Mitsotakis for his statements in Congress, hinting to the prime minister that he should demonstrate his desire to show complete loyalty to the United States more gently, since in this form it causes too many negative reactions, which affects the rating of New Democracy.



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