Former Minister of National Defense and President of Independent Greeks party (ANEL), Panos Kammenos, unleashed yesterday an unprecedented attack on the Archbishop and all members of the Hierarchy of the Church of Greece who described them as nothing less than “criminals”.
Speaking to the event organized by the Institute for Geopolitical Studies “Ethniki Anadimiourgia” on geopolitical developments in the eastern Mediterranean, Panos Kammenos argued that if any Aegean island was “lost” in the coming period, the Archbishop and the Holy Synod would be blamed for recognizing the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and jeopardizing the alliance with Russia.
“If anything happens in the next few months, the Holy Synod will hold all responsibility for the termination of guarantees granted by Russia due to the recognition of the illegal Church of Ukraine,” said Panos Kammenos.
He added that “The Archbishop and the Hierarchs of the Holy Synod committed a crime when at the last meeting of the Hierarchy they recognized the illegal Church of Ukraine before the Patriarchates of Jerusalem and Alexandria did so. Although I warned the Archbishop and the Hierarchs telling them if Greece gave in to the pressure and was the first to recognize the Church of Ukraine, in case of hostility by the Church of Ukraine, Russia would terminate the guarantees on non-occupation of any Greek island based on the accords concluded with Russia.”
He publicly admitted that he exerted pressure on the Church
The former minister acknowledged that he “personally warned the Archbishop” and is essentially the first official to publicly stress and confirm the intolerable pressure imposed on the Archbishop and the Hierarchs of the Church of Greece on the eve of the meeting of the Holy Synod of the Hierarchy.
This is probably the first time a Greek politician publicly admitted that he had tried to influence the decisions of the Holy Synod which he is now trying to accuse even of the refugee issue.
“The decision made to be liked by the Phanar and to give in to the pressure from some American circles has put Russia against us. So they hold full responsibility for whatever happens from now on because everyone has been warned and I wanted to take it publicly because I cannot hide this fact from the Greek people,” Panos Kammenos said.