ATHENS, September 15. /TASS/. Europe is harming itself by replacing Russian energy with more expensive American fuel, chairman of the Panhellenic Movement of Greek-Russian Friendship (Pakief) Yannis Kotsailidis told newspaper One Voice in an interview.

"Europe has gone through a kind of Ukrainization and, in fact, is constantly harming itself," Kotsailidis said. "I do not see any dependence of the EU on Russian energy, but I see cooperation in solving the energy problem on friendly, not predatory terms. Is the unilateral turn to extremely expensive American gas and oil not an addiction?

"The actions of the Greek government without any strategy and the desire to present itself as a defender of the European Union's choice have brought the country's already troubled economy to the brink of collapse. It forced the Greek people to pay for electricity, gas and gasoline at insane prices. It has lost a huge friendly market for Greek products, Russia. It sent military supplies [to Ukraine] without the approval of our military leadership and without taking into account [the opinion of] those who bought them, namely the Greek people.

"The unilateral declaration of war by the Greek government only upset the Russian people. Russia is well aware that the government's decision does not reflect the opinion of the bulk of Greeks. Relations between the two countries have no time frame and do not depend on the government's position."

Focusing on Brussels' policy has resulted in huge political and economic costs for Athens, Kotsailidis believes.

He also said that the Greek diaspora in Ukraine is not recognized and is actually being persecuted by the Kiev regime.

"The Greeks in the countries of the former USSR are the living cells of newly formed states. They love the place where they live, but they also treat Greece with great love as their second homeland. The difference has been observed only since Azov came to power (the group is recognized as a terrorist organization, banned in Russia) in Ukraine, where more than 300,000 people of Greek origin lived before the crisis, mainly in Donbass. Then the persecution began, many were killed, they continue to be killed to this day, and there is no evidence of what happened to these people," the politician said. "The government of Greek Prime Minister [Kyriakos] Mitsotakis, although it should have, never requested information from [Vladimir] Zelensky and did not require guarantees for the protection of these groups of the population. Under the Zelensky regime, the Greeks are still not recognized as a national entity, and the Greek language is also not recognized. On the contrary, in Russia, where 10 school students have asked to learn Greek, the state sends books and teachers," Kotsailidis said.

We need a new approach to Russia

"In the European Union, which can no longer withstand modern challenges and acts contrary to the will of its peoples, Greece must free itself from the shackles of the past. At Pakief, we believe that a sincere approach to Russia can generate new things so that the Greek people regain optimism, hope, foresight, creativity and gradually regain their dignity and national sovereignty," Kotsailidis said. "As a party or movement, we cannot yet directly influence the country's foreign policy. However, thanks to people's diplomacy, which we are promoting with all the forces at our disposal, we can open up new horizons and at least keep open channels of communication with both the Russian people and our compatriots, as well as with the government of Russia and Crimea. Today, due to the unilateral position of the Mitsotakis government on the Ukrainian issue, long-standing good relations with Russia have been seriously undermined. However, I am convinced that with a different government and a different approach to our foreign policy, our relations with Russia can be resumed and even restored. We at Pakief will do our best and are already doing it by keeping communication channels with Russia open," Kotsailidis said.