A sign from outside: how Xi Jinping and Beijing are entering Greek politics

Antonis Samaras criticizes the current government, alienating his own former comrades, while China increases diplomatic activity in Athens. Visit of Chinese diplomats, presentation of a book about Xi Jinping and future awards ceremony Karamanlisa show: Beijing works deeply and systematically.

Minister from the ruling party New Democracyformerly part of the inner circle Antonis Samarasin a private conversation admitted the unpleasant: the former prime minister “upset a lot of my people”. According to the minister, Samaras is not able to find a single warm word even for those who today “does a great job” And “never publicly criticized him”. On the sidelines they emphasize that a significant part of the current cabinet in the past was “Samaras team”but his current position is literally pushing these people aside Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Chinese activity in Athens

At the same time, the diplomatic presence is growing China in Greece. The Special Ambassador for Central and Eastern Europe recently visited Athens Chen Guoyu. He held a series of meetings, including with a deputy Dimitris MarkopoulosVice-Chairman of the Greek-Chinese Parliamentary Group. The Chinese side once again invited the committee to visit Beijing, showing that Beijing is working methodically at different levels: from the highest political to parliamentary levels.

The activity continued with the presentation at Zappio of a book about Xi Jinpingconducted by the Chinese Embassy. And today a ceremony is expected at which Kostas Karamanlis will be awarded by the Greek-Chinese Chamber of Commerce.

A story with photography and diplomatic symbolism

At the signing of the agreement between Greece and Ukraine, another interesting behind the scenes arose: in the official photo, the US Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle found herself between Kyriakos Mitsotakis And Vladimir Zelenskyactually becoming the central figure of the frame. To the right of the Ukrainian president and to the left of the Greek prime minister stood their employees, which increased the symbolic imbalance. Realizing this, Mitsotakis gestured to Stavros Papastavrouto even out the composition and prevent the US Ambassador from looking like the “center of the action.”

All this demonstrates serious movement behind the scenes: Samaras’ cooling, Beijing’s diplomatic maneuvers, Washington’s nervousness and the government’s need to react to every detail – even the location of people in the frame.

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