THESSALONIKI, July 4. /TASS/. Speaker of the Russian State Duma lower parliament house Sergei Naryshkin has welcomed Greece to use Russia’s experience in addressing the refugee problem.

"One of the consequences of the terrorist threat and terrorist activities in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa is the migration crisis which has gripped Europe and Greece in particular," Naryshkin said on Monday after a meeting with president of the Greek parliament Nikolaos Voutsis.

"Russia has experience in addressing such migration problems," he said. "After a state coup in Kiev in February 2014, about 1.5 million Ukrainian citizens moved to Russia. All of them have been provided with accommodations, their children go to school, most of them have jobs."

"And Russian ministries and agencies are ready to share this experience with their Greek partners," he stressed.

Greece is Russia’s oldest friend

Naryshkin went on to say that he believes Greece to be Russia’s oldest friend.

"It would not be wrong to say that Greece is Russia’s oldest friend. Relations between our peoples are more than a millennium old. But it is not time that matters most but durability of our ties, the common cultural and spiritual heritage," Naryshkin said.

He noted that the roots of Russia’s and Greece’s common history are in Crimea and in Taman. "It was there that Greeks founded their cities and Prince Vladimir was baptized according to Greek rites several centuries later," he said.