Berlin ruins Greek tourism

The impact of the crisis in Russia’s relations with the EU and with the West in general seems to have a single collateral damage, Greek tourism. The government tries to keep it a unimportant issue and is helped by the tepid to nonexistent reaction of SYRIZA .

For the latter, there are two interpretations: The first is related to the opening made by Tsipras towards the U.S., wanting to offset the heavy climate for him to Berlin and in Brussels bureaucracy. The president of SYRIZA knows that if altered his opinion on the issue of sanctions against Russia, Washington’s opinion for him will worsen. The second relates to the obsessions and dogmatism that distinguish the positions of SYRIZA towards tourism and in general towards the Greek tourism industry. The opposition party does not seem to want to understand what the reality is, neither the structures of tourism development in the country. Therefore it is normal some in Koumoundouros to not perceive what an escalation of the tension with Russia it will mean for the Greek tourism.

Threats from Schäuble and from the Dutch Prime Minister, on Sunday evening, to Moscow, show that the EU, with the active participation of Washington, is preparing to move to an escalation of sanctions against Russia. Some will concern the visas, as they will add restrictions that will make it extremely difficult for transition a citizen of the Russian Republic to a European Union country. In fact this will come in the form of a directive, which will not allow to Member States to derogate from it and to facilitate the granting of visas. The relative directive is promoted from Berlin who prefers this type of sanctions that have no serious impact on German economy.

Already, before the developments in Crimea, for six months, some invisible hand “froze”' the negotiations that took place between the EU and Russia to simplify visa procedures. In the other countries of EU, this isn’t a particular problem, but for Greece the hard part follows. Last year 1,300,000 tourists from Russia were welcomed by our country, number that would be bigger, if people could get visas easier, as it is proven that the afflicts in many cases operate in a prohibitive manner for Russians who want to visit Greece.

The Russian market is evolving in an El Dorado for Greek tourism in recent years, as Russian tourists increased exponentially in recent years. The profile of Russian tourists is what the Greek tourism industry seeks, as it comes to our country and spends a large amount of money compared to Germans or others who visit. The appreciation of the euro against the ruble is expected to exacerbate the problem, which will culminate if EU proceeds with penalties for granting visas to respect the process and limit the number.

In such a case the account will be suffered by Greece. The government, especially at Maximou, is particularly alarmed against this possibility. On the one hand, members realize that the damage to Greek tourism will be huge and on the other try not to annoy Berlin, after the breath of life that was given postponing measures after the Euro elections.

Samaras accepts contributions in order that, if such a question is put, offsets are considered by the EU. However Foreign Minister Venizelos investigated the matter and informed the Prime Minister that Berlin and Brussels refuse to discuss such a possibility.

Indeed they ask urgently for the compliance of the Greek side in any decision made for sanctions against Russia. Also, the German Foreign Minister Steinmeier was very clear saying that each Member State of the EU and NATO must realize that it is in an economic union of states and in an alliance.

This is why the Minister of Tourism Kefalogiannis is forced to cancel the visit to Moscow for the International Tourism Fair, which was organized and completed yesterday; The EU line was to have lower representation from all member states.