Greco-Russian Relations: The Two Faces of ‘Janus’

While Russia’s image in the West has been traditionally negative since the Soviet era, Greece has been one of the few exceptions to the rule. Indeed, support for Russia has been recurrently high among Greeks, with 57.5% and 67% of the population, according to the most recently available data (2017), holding a favourable opinion of Russia and President Putin, respectively. Greeks’ peculiar Russophilia can be explained by the critical role that Russia played during the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829) and the cultural heritage that the two nations share due to their common Christian Orthodox faith. Greece’s special relationship with Russia has also been criticised within NATO and EU circles, as Greece was the first NATO country to purchase military material from Moscow (2007), provoking accusations of being Russia’s ‘Trojan horse’ within the EU.