Perhaps the weirdest story I heard during my visit to Athens was that the new government might even try to get bridge financing from Russia if Europe does not accept the demands of Syriza, the radical leftist party (the Coalition of the Radical Left), which swept snap elections in Greece. In a way, Syriza is indeed schmoozing up to Russia:
• Syriza chose the pro-Russian right-wing populists of ANEL, the Greek version of UKIP and AfD, as their coalition partner over pro-European Potami.
• Just hours after taking office, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras went to see the Russian ambassador on Jan. 26.