New Democracy slams lack of information on spat with Russia
New Democracy’s shadow foreign minister Giorgos Koumoutsakos on Thursday criticised the lack of information from the government on the rift caused between Greece and Russia, after it was revealed on Wednesday that Greece would expel two Russian diplomats and bar two more Russians from entering the country.
According to diplomatic sources cited by Kathimerini, those diplomats tried to undermine a deal reached between Athens and Skopje on the name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia by trying to bribe Greek officials and metropolitans in the Greek Orthodox hierarchy, and to gain influence in Mount Athos.
Koumoutsakos lamented the lack of any official briefing on the issue, saying that all information comes from “diplomatic circles” and sources.
“Everything suggests that the issue Greek-Russian relations are facing is particularly serious,” he said in a statement.
“It is obvious that any attempt to intervene in the domestic affairs of a country is condemnable and unacceptable,” he said, adding it should be handled with “determination and rigour."
