Alexis Tsipras, leader of The Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza) Party, is reported by Greek media to have “lambasted western policy on Ukraine and expressed support for separatist referendums in the Ukraine during an official visit to Moscow, upon the invitation of the Russian government.”
“‘We believe the Ukrainian people should be sovereign and should decide with a democratic manner and with referendums on its future,’ Tsipras said, as quoted by the state-run Athens News Agency, of the breakaway referendums that are leading to the country’s partition.”
In 1990, 15-year-old Tsipras, was recruited into the Youth branch of the pro-Soviet Communist Party of Greece. That year, he became one of the leaders of the riots against the education reforms of Conservative Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis. The Jan 12, 1991 edition of the New York Times reported:
The Greek Government said today that four people had been killed in a fire and more than 100 hurt overnight as high school students and leftists clashed with riot policemen during protests over educational changes. … The riots began during a giant demonstration on Thursday night by high school students and leftists, who were protesting the death of a mathematics teacher a day earlier. He had been killed in clashes between rival student groups over whether the takeover of school premises should continue as a means of forcing through educational reform and the withdrawal of a widely debated Government education bill. … Government and police announcements said the four people killed had been trapped in a department store that was destroyed by fire. The fire resulted from a combination of firebombs tossed by students and tear gas used by the riot police to disperse them, the authorities said.”
The Greek media report states that Tsipras, echoing Russian propaganda, “clearly rejected the legitimacy of the interim [Ukrainian] government on the grounds that fascist elements are serving in it. ‘It is a regression for us to see fascism and the neonazis entering European governments again and for this to be accepted by the EU,’ Tsipras stressed.” He also denounced sanctions on Russia and insisted that Greeks and Russians “are linked with a ‘tradition of common struggles of our peoples, common religious convictions, with common political and cultural roots in our history.'”
Separately, it is reported:
A second opinion poll in as many days has put Syriza in the lead over New Democracy in the May 25 European Parliament elections. The Mega TV/GPO poll put Syriza at 21.5%, a half a point ahead of New Democracy (21%).
Newly founded To Potami (River) came in third on 8.5%, Golden Dawn on 7.5%, the Communist Party (KKE) on 7%; the Pasok-backed Olive Tree (Elia) coalition on 6%, Independent Greeks 3.7% and Democratic Left (Dimar) just making the threshold on 3%.
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