Greece could seek funding from Russia if Europe doesn’t budge, says defence minister
Greece has warned that it could seek assistance from Russia if it fails to strike a new debt deal with the Eurozone.
The country’s defence minister Panos Kammenos said there was a “plan B” if its negotiations over a new bailout deal are rejected.
Kammenos is a member of the right-wing Independent Greeks party, the junior coalition partner to the more left-leaning Syriza.
The anti-austerity government insists the terms of its €240bn (£180bn) bailout with the European Union and International Monetary Fund are too severe.
Both parties also want Germany to pay war reparations to pay back a loan forced upon the Bank of Greece by the Nazis, estimated to be worth around €11bn in today’s money.
Ahead of an EU leaders’ summit in Brussels and a Eurogroup meeting to discuss the “state of play” in Greece this week, Kammenos told Greek TV the country could look to Russia, the United States or China for funding.
Kammenos told Greece’s Mega TV:
What we want is a deal. But if there is no deal, and if we see that Germany remains rigid and wants to blow apart Europe, then we have the obligation to go to plan B.Plan B is to get funding from another source. It could be the United States at best, it could be Russia, it could be China or other countries.
Greece’s new government is seen as wanting closer relations with Russia. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has strongly criticised the severity of EU sanctions imposed on Russia its military activity in Ukraine.