If Ukraine ends up with a mixture of ethnic fundamentalism and liberal capitalism, with oligarchs pulling the strings, it will be as European as Russia (or Hungary) is today.
Our economic elite keep the Conservatives afloat because they expect a return During the cold war the left was routinely accused of taking Moscow gold, but the Russian oligarchs who benefited from the post-Soviet plunder of public assets know a good deal when they see one.
Up on the rarefied and leafy heights of Kolonaki, home to some of central Athens' most expensive shops and their exceedingly well-heeled clientele, it was hard to find anyone really upset by Syriza's victory – or worried by Tsipras's warning that the vote was "a defeat for the oligarchs and elites".
This is what the revolution is about: Ukrainians trying to wrest control of their country from the oligarchs of Donetsk, Dnepropetrovsk and elsewhere who – with help from east and west – have robbed them for 23 years.
Tsipras said he was launching a war on Greece's oligarchs and on tax evasion by the wealthy.
In past years the oligarchs who control huge swaths of the economy have become famous for glittering Great Gatsby-style parties.
It's a love that is reciprocated: the Italians adore London, they colonised South Kensington and Chelsea when Russian oligarchs were still putting aside their first roubles; they have learned English manners; they look to Prince Charles to understand male elegance; and they are grateful to have got their slice of the Beatles, David Beckham, James Bond and royal gossip.
Guests – including oligarchs and art lovers – quickly cut the country into pieces and ate it.
As much as we moan about the oligarchs pouring their money into the game, deep down we secretly hope one day they will tire of the Bridge, and look eastwards.
The minister has facilitated the collective, social democratic, European view of sport to be argued with the oligarchs and capitalist barons of the Premiership and G14.
Otherwise, we will be left with a conflict of nationalist passions manipulated by oligarchs.
