Moscow is outraged by the decision of the Greek government not to invite the Russian embassy to the celebration of the 195th anniversary of the Battle of Navarino. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Zakharova, bluntly stated to the Greek government: “You have betrayed yourself.”
She added that the Greek government is trying to “rewrite history”. The Russian Embassy appealed to the citizens of Greece: “We are confident that the Greek people will not allow our common pages of history to be erased from memory, will not forget the decisive role of Russia in helping Greece gain independence.”
It is obvious that the Russian government is separating the current government of Mitsotakis from Greece and the Greek people. The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman concluded her statement with a clear warning: “People who forget their own history are betraying themselves.”
The Russian embassy in Athens, responding to a message from the Russian Foreign Ministry about the celebration of the naval battle of Navarino on October 20, gave the go-ahead to the Greek government with the phrase: “For the first time, representatives of the Russian embassy were not invited to the celebration of the 195th anniversary of the Battle of Navarino.”
“The question is often asked: what is ‘falsification of history’? Today they showed us a good example,” the Russian embassy said in a statement.
⚓️#OTD in 1827, allied forces from Russia, Britain & France decisively defeated Ottoman forces in an epic naval battle in Navarino Bay, Ionian Sea.
The victory led to 🇬🇷Greece finally gaining independence. pic.twitter.com/snIYcMOVKf
— MFA Russia 🇬🇧 (@mfa_russia) October 20, 2022
⚓️ #OTD In 1827, allied forces from Russia, Britain and France inflicted a decisive defeat on the Ottoman forces in an epic naval battle in the Navarino Bay of the Ionian Sea. The victory led to the fact that Greece finally gained independence.
⚓️#OTD in 1827, allied forces from Russia, Britain & France decisively defeated Ottoman forces in an epic naval battle in Navarino Bay, Ionian Sea.
The victory led to 🇬🇷Greece finally gaining independence. pic.twitter.com/snIYcMOVKf
— MFA Russia 🇬🇧 (@mfa_russia) October 20, 2022
Below is Maria Zakharova’s full statement following a question from the international agency Info.gr:
“It is surprising that this year, for the first time in many decades, representatives of the Russian embassy in Athens were not invited to the events dedicated to the anniversary of the victory of the combined squadron of Russia, England and France in the Battle of Navarino on October 20, 1827.
We regret that the Greek authorities, under the pretext of the current international situation, continue their futile attempts to rewrite history, to “cancel” everything connected with our country. Don’t they realize that by annulling Russia they are also annulling their own history? Meanwhile, the warships of the great powers were sent to the Mediterranean precisely at the insistence of the Russian Empire. And according to the unequivocal conclusions of experts, the victory at the Battle of Navarino 195 years ago was vital to the achievement of the Greek national liberation struggle. Does this fact no longer matter to Athens?
We are confident that the Greek people will not allow our common pages of history to be erased from memory, will not forget the decisive role played by Russia in gaining Greece’s independence. People who forget their history betray themselves. The Battle of Navarino is, in fact, the military event that made Greece a state in the modern era.“.
In a word, Russia was one of the main reasons why Greece acquired a state, and this is a historical fact. The actions of the Greek government non-invitation of the Russian embassy to the celebrations are unprecedented in terms of “historical ingratitude”, but, although absolutely immoral, it was expected, since Mitsotakis in his statement “declared war” on Russia. In particular, speaking to the Bloomberg channel and talking about Turkey and R.T. Erdogan, he said that “we don’t need another source of geopolitical instability in the Eastern Mediterranean when we are waging war against Russia and trying to support Ukraine“.
Vice Mayor of the Athens region of Agia Varvara Panayiot Xanthopoulos on how the Greek authorities “forgot” to invite Russian representatives to the celebration of the 195th anniversary of the Battle of Navarino.
Read more about the Battle of Navarino in our publication: 194 years ago, the Russian squadron destroyed the Turkish-Egyptian fleet in the Battle of Navarino.
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