FT this week cited Russian intelligence activity in the extreme northeast port city of Alexandroupolis as the reason behind this month's expulsion of two Russian diplomats stationed in the country, saying the latter were allegedly trying to ferment opposition to the recently penned Prespes agreement aimed to resolve the fYRoM "name issue".
The FT article, bylined by the paper's veteran correspondent in Athens, Kerin Hope, notes that the two Russian diplomats were suspected of cooperating with local businesspeople in order to bribe state officials in the Evros prefecture, Orthodox church clergymen, members of cultural organizations and "far-right" groups in northern Greece - all with the aim of scrapping the agreement between Athens and Skopje.
"For Greece to kick out Russian officials is all the more extraordinary and not just because of the cultural and religious affinities between the two countries. Greece is also governed by a far-left party that once enjoyed warm ties with the Kremlin," was the quote from the FT article.
