Leading chess player and major political activist Garry Kasparov was invited in Athens by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation to play chess with 15 young Greek Champions at the Stavros Niarchos Park on Thursday, in the presence of thousands of visitors who will enjoy a rare experience. Garry Kasparov decided to attend the event in order to show people in Europe and across the world that Greeks have vision and think about the future. “I am happy because while everyone sees Greece as a source of problems, I am here to talk about something positive,” he said during an interview with the Greek online newspaper iefimerida.gr. Kasparov has been living in the U.S. since his political persecution, because he felt his life was in danger in Russia. When Russian politician Boris Nemtsov was assassinated he did not return to Moscow. When asked about the situation he replied: “I don’t buy one-way tickets.” During his interview he was asked to comment on the relationship that has developed between the Greek and Russian government and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ meetings with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. “Every decision -whether it’s made by a man or a nation-has strategic and tactical calculations. It is obvious that the Greek government sees several benefits in building relationships and ties with the Putin regime,” he said. However, such a relationship also has strategic disadvantages. Greece has a strategic interest in being part of Europe, which comes in contrast with Putin who wishes to destroy Europe’s unity, he said. “Putin wants to divide Europe and exploit the difficulties of Greece. Putin, like every dictator needs to divide the enemy, to exploit its vulnerabilities,” he noted and concluded that he finds it hard to believe that a country like Greece, which has valued democracy since ancient times, has found common ground with Putin’s dictator regime.
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