Russia expects European partners to follow national interests - Lavrov
MOSCOW. April 8 (Interfax) - Russia calls on the European Union not to consider the principle of solidarity from the point of view of support of Russophobic tendencies.
Commenting on the calls made by the EU administration to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who is now visiting Russia, Lavrov said: "It's a mentality that is being cultivated in Europe that, if any of the Europeans begin acting on the basis of their national interests, it is regarded as a breach of the principle of solidarity, as if the principle of solidarity was invented specially to support the Russophobic minority in the European Union."
"We want every EU country to choose its priorities, economic and political and its partners on the regional and international scene on the basis of its national interests, not some invented principles, which are a pretext to keep everyone anti-Russian," Lavrov said.
According to earlier reports, the current visit to Moscow by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras causes serious concern in Brussels.
European Parliamentarian Martin Schultz has warned the Greek prime minister that it is unacceptable to deviate from the general EU policies on Russia.
Schultz was quoted by Deutsche Welle on Wednesday as saying in an interview with the newspaper Munchner Merkur that the Greek government can count on EU solidarity, but the EU can demand solidarity in return and that this solidarity should not suffer as a result unilateral actions.
Schultz said he has more than once warned Tsipras about it, saying the EU expects him to take that into account in his actions during the negotiations in Moscow as prime minister of an EU country.
Elmar Brock, chairman of the European Parliament Committee on foreign affairs, said in an interview with Die Welt that financial assistance provided to Greece by Russia would hurt EU foreign policy and security policy.
Speaking about the possibility of Greece leaving the eurozone, Brock said he believes that it would not be a big disaster from an economic viewpoint. However, he said it would make the position of Turkey as a NATO partner unsafe.