MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd March, 2019) Greece's decision to detain Russian energy expert Evgeny Kalinin at Ukraine's request is undermining centuries-old relations between Moscow and Athens, Frants Klintsevich, a member of the Russian upper house's defense and security committee, said.
On Saturday, attorney Yiannis Rachiotis told Sputnik that Kalinin had been arrested in Greece at Ukraine's request. According to the lawyer, Ukraine accuses Kalinin of breaching tax legislation during his work in the country. At the same time, Rachiotis said he was sure that it was a politically-motivated case, as Kalinin was on the list of Ukraine's Mirotvorets website, which is known for publishing private information of people who allegedly pose a threat to Ukraine's sovereignty, for his support of former President Viktor Yanukovych.
"Greece is really shooting itself in the foot. First of all, while reacting to the requests of the Ukrainian authorities � which emerged as a result of the coup, � it commits the acts that are inherently wrong from the legal viewpoint. Secondly, this is really undermining centuries-old, we can say, core relations between Russia and Greece," he wrote on Facebook on Saturday.
The lawmaker stressed the long history of relations between Moscow and Athens, as well as the role that the former played in helping Greece to obtain independence, and expressed regret that the transient "political conjuncture prevails over political memory."
Klintsevich added that "it's not too late to stop."
Russian lawmaker Natalya Poklonskaya, meanwhile, suggested that diplomatic and human rights institutions should closely follow the situation around Kalinin's detention over risks that it would be politicized in the run-up to the March 31 presidential election in Ukraine.
"It will certainly be politicized and used in the electoral race for presidency in Ukraine," Poklonskaya wrote on Vkontakte social network on Saturday.
She noted that the issues of extradition of Russian and Ukrainian citizens required from a third party restraint and wisdom.
"After all, following the formal grounds, it is so easy to get trapped and become a tool in somebody else's hands or � even worse � a pawn in someone else's game," the lawmaker concluded.
Kalinin was vice president of TNK-BP Commerce in Ukraine until 2011, when he resigned from the company.
