Greek security was undermined and Greece expelled two Russian diplomats and refused to credit two others. Greece had not joined with the 30 countries that had expelled or refused to accredit Russian diplomats in March, in solidarity with the UK. The expulsions came in response to the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal, a former Russian intelligence officer who had lived in England since 2010. Britain accused the Kremlin of supporting the attack on Skripal. But the Greek government, which has always had relations with Moscow for decades, had warned European countries against overly aggressive measures against the Kremlin.
Recently the sudden change, when Athens announced the surprise expulsion of two Russian diplomats from the Greek capital. One of the two diplomats is Victor Yakovlev, third secretary of the Russian embassy in Athens, who according to some is actually a secret service officer. Two other Russian diplomats, who have not been named publicly, cannot enter Greece. According to an official statement by the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the expulsions are intended to prevent "the weakening of national security". However, a report by the Greek newspaper Kathimerini said the move was made in response to attempts by Russian spies to bribe Greek state officials. Other reports claim that the Russians were caught trying to blackmail Greek lawmakers over the possible expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), of which Greece is a member.
Some of the allegations reported in the Greek press relate to the country's XNUMX-year dispute with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, which Athens accuses of harboring territorial ambitions. Greece, the richest and most powerful state in the Balkans, has banned its northern neighbor's entry into the European Union and NATO until it complies with a list of Greek demands. Chief among them is the drawing of a clear distinction between Greek Macedonia, an ancient Greek kingdom ruled by Alexander the Great, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, which includes a small part of Alexander's ancient empire. Last month, the ten-year dispute between the two neighboring countries seemed to end with the adoption of "North Macedonia" as the official name of the former Yugoslav republic. The deal would have paved the way for the small landlocked country to start negotiations for eventual NATO membership. However, nationalists from both countries held public demonstrations to protest the agreement.
It appears that Russian diplomats have attempted to persuade Greek lawmakers - through extortion, corruption or both - to vote against the proposed deal. There are also reports that Russian diplomats have been organizing nationwide demonstrations against the proposed deal in Greece by funding and disseminating information on social media. The Russian government said Wednesday it was protesting the expulsion of its diplomats from Athens. He also said he reserved the right to respond to Greece's move by expelling an equal number of Greek diplomats from Moscow.
