Pages
▼
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Greeks Fleeing Ukraine
The evening flight that arrived in Athens from Kiev was filled with Greeks who fled Ukraine after the developments in Crimea. When the Greeks arrived at Eleftherios Venizelos airport they were greeted with hugs kisses and tears of joy from their relatives who were anxiously waiting for them in the arrivals hall. Christina Legnidi who studied and currently works in Kiev referred to the situation: “extremists in the center of Kiev are raising money to buy weapons. We don’t know how they are going to use them. They had been hanging posters on the side of the streets which read ‘Don’t speak this language! (meaning Russian) The Russians are our enemy.’” There is no police. They are attacking Jewish people and Ukrainians of Russian descent. A few days ago they found a street artist and beat him in public because he was selling his paintings. Vangelis Diakomanolis, a Piraeus Bank employee in Kiev said: “I came to Greece with my wife and two children until they stabilize the situation. There is fear among the Ukrainians. Greeks have no problem and neither do our businesses.” “We decided to come to Greece for at least a month because we are afraid and we do not know what may come” stated Marina Malikova. Finally, another passenger on the plane who came to Greece with his Ukrainian wife said they fear the recent developments. However, he stressed the fact that international media tend to exaggerate sometimes.