Visits to Europe

Image: Vladimir Putin arrives on a visit to Greece. Source: Kremlin.ru

President Putin’s recent visit to Greece and Sergey Lavrov’s end-of-May trip to Hungary have provided excellent material for the pro-Kremlin media to bolster its well-known narratives.

“Welcomed like superstar”
Pro-Kremlin outlets emphasised the thawing relations between Russia and European nations while tass.ru underlined the “creative atmosphere” of President Putin’s visit to Greece. The story entitled Putin thanks old friend purports that President Putin was genuinely moved by the cordial welcome.

Sputnik paid special attention to Putin’s visit to Mount Athos, which was seen as a way of underlining the religious ties between the two Orthodox countries, Greece and Russia. Sputnik made reference to leading EU media when making the point that Putin was welcomed like a superstar, and when referring to the Mount Athos visit as a piece of religious diplomacy.

Exemplary tight bilateral relations
Similarly, concerning Lavrov’s visit to Hungary, 5-tv.ru wrote about exemplary tight bilateral relations between Moscow and Budapest, while rg.ru stressed that Lavrov was welcomed as a “dear friend”.

The narrative that the “support for the extension of anti-Russian sanctions is waning in the EU” has gained traction in pro-Kremlin outlets.

In an analysis quoting the French analyst Guillaume Lagane, Sputnik sees Russia’s strategy in building alliances in Europe and stresses that several European countries are ready to cooperate with Russia. That creates cracks in European unity against Russia.