Dr Othon Anastasakis comments on the Greek Prime Minister’s visit to Moscow

Interviewed on BBC Radio Scotland’s ‘Good Morning Scotland’ programme (11 April), Othon Anastasakis was asked what conclusions could be drawn from Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s recent visit to Russia, where the Greek Prime Minister was warmly welcomed.

Othon said that he felt that the issue had been overblown.  He added that the Prime Minister was probably trying to achieve 3 things: (1) to demonstrate to the Greek people that Greece could make its own foreign policy decisions, (2) to build relationships with states outside the EU that might be able to provide financial assistance and (3) to explore a deal with Russia about energy, specifically a gas pipeline that might intersect through Turkey and Greece.

The programme can be heard here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05p9sd5

(Othon appears at 1h 31m.)