Greek views of Russia after the invasion of Ukraine: a far left-right ‘axis of ressentiment’ against the West

How did Greeks view Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, and why? Based on a 2022 nationally representative survey of 1,578 Greek adults, this paper argues that pre-existing and interconnected left-right ideologies and East-West identities substantially divided the Greek public in their views of Russia. Specifically, there was a positive quadratic relationship between ideology and views of Russia, with supporters of the Greek far left (KKE) and far right (Greek Solution) the most pro-Russian, and centre right (New Democracy) supporters the most anti-Russian. Meanwhile, there was a linear relationship between identifying with the ‘East’ (vs. the ‘West’) and greater Russophilia, with far left and far right supporters the least ‘Western’ and most pro-Russian. Based on these survey findings, we suggest that an ‘axis of ressentiment’ united the Greek far left and far right against the ‘West’ and in favour of the ‘East’ and Russia.