Αντίο, NATO

Turkey has been drifting away from the West for years. Hungary is practically begging to become a satellite of Moscow once more. Now it may be Greece’s turn:

With Greece now on the verge of bankruptcy, the US is also beginning to worry about the political fallout from a deeper crisis and the potential for Russia to gain increased influence over a Nato member.

As Washington tries to maintain a united western front in support of sanctions on Russia over Ukraine, a Greek default could provide Moscow an opportunity to sow new divisions among America’s European allies.

“You can easily see how geopolitically this would be a gift to Russia,” says Sebastian Mallaby at the Council on Foreign Relations. “You do not want Europe to have to deal with a Greece that is a member of Nato but which all of a sudden hates the west and is cosying up to Russia.”

Stalin couldn’t peel Greece away from the West, even with a guerrilla army of dedicated Greek communists. Putin may very well achieve Stalin’s goal, if you’ll excuse the expression, by default.