Three months ago, Soviet Ambassador Mikhail Sergeev arrived in Athens bubbling gracious compliments in fluent Greek. The first Soviet ambassador to Athens since 1947, Sergeev had a tough assignment: to dispel the bitterness against Soviet Russia that still lingers from the Communists' bloody, two-yearlong civil war (1947-49) against the Greek government.
In a few weeks Sergeev traveled the length of Greece from Salonika to Crete, glad-handed everyone, did everything but kiss babies. He invited 500 prominent Greeks to the embassy for a Russian film premiere, feasted another 500 on roast suckling pig...