Greece-Russia expulsions ‘nothing to do with Cyprus’

The mutual expulsion of diplomats by Greece and Russia has nothing to do with Cyprus, the government spokesman said on Tuesday.

“It is a matter that concerns strictly these two countries,” government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou said when contacted by the Cyprus Mail.

“Cyprus has no such issues with Russia,” he added.

Such quid pro quo measures are part of diplomatic craft, Prodromou said.

On Monday, Moscow announced the expulsion of two Greek diplomats, also banning a senior official from Greece’s foreign ministry from entering Russia.

In its statement, the Russia foreign ministry did not name the Greek diplomats it had expelled or say when it had asked them to leave.

Citing unnamed sources, Russia’s state-backed RIA news agency said Moscow had expelled Greece’s trade representative as well as a Greek diplomatic employee responsible for the country’s communications policy in Russia.

It was a tit-for-tat move after Greece in July expelled two Russian diplomats and barred two other people from entering the country for allegedly trying to bribe officials and foment demonstrations to thwart a deal to allow Macedonia to join Nato.

Athens had taken the unprecedented step of ejecting Russian diplomats, saying that Moscow sought to meddle in Greece’s internal affairs.

The claim was that Russian diplomats, in cahoots with businessmen in Greece with ties to Russia, were behind demonstrations taking place in the region of Thrace.

The demonstrations were opposed to a pending deal between Athens and Skopje to rename Macedonia.

The subsequent agreement allowed Macedonia to join the ranks of Nato.

Russia flatly denied the allegations, arguing that the Greek government levied the accusation under pressure from Nato allies.

Following the initial diplomatic expulsions, Greece said it still sought good relations with Russia.

However, ties appear to have deteriorated since, and Russia’s ambassador to Athens was reported as saying last month that the timing of a planned visit to Greece by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in September was no longer suitable.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.