Greek Leader Meets with Putin

The leader of the Greek New Democracy Party (ND) began his three-day official visit to Russia yesterday, and he met with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin today. The New Democracy is part of the shotgun coalition government in Greece, expected to win the next elections.

New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras met today with Sergei Ivanov, Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration of Russia. Following their meeting, according to Athens News, Samaras said, "We want to rekindle the historic relations that have always existed between Greece and Russia." Samaras cited energy, tourism, investments, and Russian imports of Greek farm products as priority areas in developing cooperation.

For his part, Ivanov welcomed Samaras as a "leading political force of Greece" and praised the close cooperation between ND and United Russia at both the party level and at leadership levels.

On the second day of his visit, today, Samaras met with Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, to discuss expanding cooperation on energy. Russia is Greece's main supplier of gas. They also discussed the South Stream Gas pipeline that will go under the Black Sea to Bulgaria and Romania, with branches going northwest to Austria and Serbia, and a branch going south through Greece and to the Adriatic, where it will link to Italy through another pipeline. In December 2011, Putin authorized construction to begin in 2012.

Later in the day Samaras met with Putin, and they discussed economic coopertion. He also met with Russian Patriarch Kirill, who expressed the "deep compassion that Russians feel for the Greek people in this time of trial." He announced that the Russian and Greek Orthodox Churches were cooperating to help the most needy in Greece.

New Democracy and United Russia are considered sister parties. Samaras has said that if he becomes Prime Minister, he will make improving relations with Russia his top priority. When New Democracy was in power before 2009, it sought to develop extensive politicial and economic relations with Russia, especially in the energy sector, a policy that was frowned upon by Greece's so-called European "partners."