A sleepy Greek port has become vital to the war in Ukraine
American ships dock there. A firm with Russian ties wants to buy it
The small Greek city of Alexandroupolis, 15km from the border with Turkey, briefly ran short of eggs and chicken this summer. The reason was a three-day influx of hungry American marines who had arrived on the uss Arlington. Alexandroupolis has turned into something of a boom town of late, no longer reliant on selling coffee, cake and souvenirs to tourists from Turkey and the Balkans. For that it can thank Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, which has caused activity at the city’s port to explode.
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Red-hot in Alex”
From the July 23rd 2022 edition
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