Russia As An Alternative Security Provider: The Greek Perspective On The “Ukraine Crisis”

The article explores the Greek policies with regards to the “Ukraine crisis” through security provider approach. As NATO and EU proved unable to address the entire range of Greece’s security concerns, Athens regularly sought for an alternative security provider, considering that Russia could assume this position after the dissolution of the USSR and provide support to Greek positions on Cyprus, relations with Turkey, Balkan politics, and energy security. This strategy required that Greece support stronger EU-Russia relations, which had direct influence the Greek vision of Ukraine’s place in regional integration processes. To illustrate how this security provider optics influenced Greece’s political choices with regards to the “Ukraine crisis”, policies of the proEuropean coalition government of Antonis Samaras and then the “geopolitical turn” by a populist SYRIZA-ANEL coalition of Alexis Tsipras are analyzed.