Loading ...“Stop Putin” Coalition Cracking: Greece Laments “Blind Obedience To Cold War Strategies Of Brussels And Washington”
Tyler Durden’s pictureSubmitted by Tyler Durden on 08/07/2014 11:03 -0400
It was all fun and games while the grand western “Pariah Putin is evil” alliance was calling the shots, lobbing one sanctions after another, and Russia was quietly sitting there and taking it all. But once Europe realized that suddenly its food exporters are about to see their revenues plunge (and ostensibly lead to even more domestic deflation as all the excess produce floods domestic markets) and lead to gaping trade deficits, suddenly cries that Putin’s retaliation is “unfair” have filled the air. What’s worse, the moment Russia retaliated, the grand alliance started to crack. Enter Greece which has hundreds of millions in food exports to Russia, and which was the first country to hint that it may splinter from the western “pro-sanctions” alliance.
According to Bloomberg, earlier today the Greek foreign minister and former PM said that “we are in continuous deliberations in order to have the smallest possible consequences, and if possible no significant impact whatsoever.” He added that Greece is trying to protect agricultural production, keep friendly relations with all countries, and fulfill its EU obligations. The problem is that it can’t satisfy everyone, and certainly not its food exporters if it wants to remain on friendly terms with the same artificial union that has kept it on life support for the past 4+ years.
Bloomberg adds that Greece will set up a task force to monitor exports of Greek products to Russia, according to e-mailed statement from country’s Foreign Ministry. The task force will be comprised of representatives of Greek exporters and government officials, and its role will be to examine ways to expand markets for Greek, fruits and vegetables, in response to Russia’s decision to ban most food exports from EU countries. Greek Foreign Ministry has taken action to ensure smooth access of agricultural products to Russian market. The problem is that Putin has clearly rejected any such “action”, and the moment when largely agricultural Greece will where its allegiances lie, is coming.