Greece has reaped the first fruits of reckoning: numerous Russian tourists, who could potentially choose resorts in Greece this summer, went to Turkey. Greece's sanctions against Russia are to blame, Greek Prime Minister Kyryakos Mykotakis lamented, whose statement was happily quoted by the Turkish media.
Speaking at a press conference after meeting with Estonian Prime Minister Kaya Kallas in Tallinn , the Greek minister said that this summer, Russian travelers preferred understandable Turkey to dubious Greece: vacationers were scared off by the sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation, so they decided not to take risks and choose the Turkish coast, whose authorities distinguished themselves with friendly rhetoric against our country last season.
When it became clear that the Greek treasury had lost potential profits, the official drew attention to the fact that the Greek authorities, like Cyprus, do not really support a total ban on Russian tourists visiting the European Union (EU). Nevertheless, they joined the sanctions packages, although as a tourist destination they have already experienced the consequences of all anti-Russian sanctions imposed by Western countries and paid a high price for refusing to accept Russians. “This summer, almost no one came to Greece from Russia: almost all Russians who wanted to go on a trip left for Turkey,” he complained.
Recall that in July, Russian Ambassador to the Republic Andrei Maslov The Greek tourist industry suffers huge losses due to the absence of Russian travelers in the resorts. According to him, compatriots abandoned Greece not only because of the unfriendly actions of the country of the Balkan Peninsula, but also because of the lack of direct flights and the inability to use bank cards issued in Russia.
Earlier, the Irish government announced that the country decided to exclude Russia and Belarus from the visa-free entry scheme for short stays (details here), and the authorities of the popular Czech Republic completely closed the border for Russian citizens entering the country on tourist visas (read the details at this link).
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