Despite the fact that the diplomatic row between Athens and Moscow went up a notch after the retaliatory expulsion of Greek diplomats by Moscow, the Russian Embassy in Greece “celebrated” the fact that Russian tourists chose Greece as one of their top destinations.

“Greece can now stand on its own two feet,” European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici told Greek parliament on Tuesday, during a visit to Athens this week, and after meeting with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos.

This past September was the best September by far for Greek tourism with a double-digit increase in both arrivals and revenues, as the figures of the Bank of Greece show, with the revenues for the first nine months amounting to almost 13 billion Euros.