by Dan Alexe EU foreign ministers are meeting today to discuss the escalating crisis in east Ukraine. A tense discussion about further increasing sanctions on Russia is expected, following the dovish tone of this month’s paper on Russia from Federica Moregini's services, but also the apparent turnabout in Athens concerning the attitude towards Russia. “We are against the embargo that has been imposed against Russia…We have no differences with Russia and the Russian people", Greece’s new Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis said on Wednesday. Writing on his blog, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, rejected suggestions Greece had vetoed new sanctions on Russia, insisting the issue was that the new government was “never asked.” European Parliament President Martin Schulz, who is in Athens today, said in an interview with German broadcaster ZDF, “I’ve noticed with dismay that Greece today has abandoned the joint position of the EU on Russia…You just cannot, on the one hand demand Europe to show solidarity with your own country like Mr. Tsipras does and then, as a first step, split the joint European position" There was discontent in many capitals, earlier this month, when the chief of EU's diplomacy Federica Mogherini circulated a conciliatory discussion paper on Russia. That was before the Greek elections and the turnabout in Athens. Now, a potential Greek veto, blocking new sanctions, would trigger an unprecedented political crisis in the EU. In a rare joint declaration on Tuesday, the 28 EU leaders asked the extraordinary meeting of EU foreign ministers taking place today "to consider any appropriate action, in particular on further restrictive measures" if the situation in eastern Ukraine does not improve fast. But the declaration was released without a consultation with the new government in Athens. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras complained about Brussels speaking on Russia without consulting him first. Greece's new foreign minister Nikos Kotzias refused to comment on Greece's position ahead of today's meeting. A government spokesman said the issue was not discussed yet in Athens. The ministers should call on Russia and the separatists to allow free and safe access to international monitors, and ask the EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to step up efforts to counter Russian disinformation. In some of the strongest language yet, the head of the European Council of EU leaders, Poland's Donald Tusk, hit out at the weekend at "appeasement" of Russia and said it was "time to step up our policy based on cold facts, not illusions.” Tusk might be on a clash course with the new Greek government, but also with other countries, such as Cyprus, Slovakia and Hungary, unhappy with the perspective of new sanctions on Russia. Even the German Vice-Chancellor Siegmar Gabriel said, on Wednesday evening, that the German government is not keen on new sanctions. “The German government is not of the opinion that we must now, so quickly, impose new sanctions. I am not in favour of provoking a new escalation”, said Siegmar Gabriel, adding that Germany would not hesitate to impose new sanctions if however the autonomists try to take over more territory. On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin had called the Ukrainian army a "NATO foreign legion," reflecting his readiness to stand up to the West regardless of rising economic costs. Alexis Tsipras’s stance seems to be hardening. He was also encouraged by a phone call he got from Barack Obama, who congratulated him an reportedly told him he is sympathizing with the new turn of things in Athens. The US is "not worried at this stage" about Greece’s stance on Russia, said the State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, who denied fears that Russia might attract Athens in its sphere of influence. Meanwhile, the European left seems in disarray. In France and Italy, where the Socialists are in power, the left is split. The Spanish opposition Podemos is celebrating, while in Britain the Labour leader Ed Miliband seems scared and paralysed by the perspective of a major disenchantment of the left wing of the party. Even Martin Schulz, the German Socialist speaker of the EU Parliament, who today traveled to Athens, together with Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem, for a face-to-face confrontation, indulged in a bout of Tsipras-bashing in the very conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine (FAZ). “We don't agree with the spirit of sanctions against Russia, which has negative results not only for agriculture, as far as our own country's economy is concerned, but also in general”, insisted on the eve of today’s meeting the new Greek deputy Foreign Minister, Nikos Hountis. Nikos Kotzias, the new Greek foreign minister, who will be today at the Council in Brussels, is a professor of European Studies, a former member of the Greek Communist Party and a well-known friend of Russia. In the past he spoke against what he calls a "German-dominated Europe" and, in the 1980s, he praised the Polish government's crackdown on the Solidarity movement. Donald Tusk, on the other hand, comes from the Polish Solidarity movement, which makes him the ideological opposite of some of the people forming the present Greek government. The draft statement presented to the foreign ministers today proposes to extend sanctions against Russia by six months, and adds new people to the sanctions list. "In view of the worsening situation, the Council (of foreign ministers) agrees to extend the restrictive measures targeting persons and entities for threatening or undermining Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity ... until September 2015,” say the conclusions. The statement is referring to asset freezes and travel bans put on dozens of Ukrainians and Russians since Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula last March. The draft statement discussed today notes evidence of continued and growing support given to the separatists by Russia, saying it underlined Russia's responsibility for the conflict that has already killed more than 5,000 people. Greek opposition is almost certain to limit the sanctions to blacklisting more names of individuals from Russia and Ukraine. A decision on further economic sanctions on Russia is likely to be left to EU leaders who next meet in Brussels on 12 February.
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