Iran has seized two Greek oil tankers after Athens assisted the United States in seizing oil from an Iranian tanker. This is the most recent sign indicating that Mitsotakis is surrendering Greek national sovereignty to Washington. His trip to Washington may be a return to the submissive stances that Greek leaders have shown to Washington in the past.
Greece has no disputes with Iran. Iran is a Muslim country that Greece has had traditionally friendly relations with. Athens should have stayed neutral with regard to Iran. As with Greek policies toward Russia, Mitsotakis is placing Greek Middle Eastern policy under the influence of the pro war elements led by Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland.
Mitsotakis gave a pathetic address before Congress in which he not only criticized Russia on Ukraine, but on Syria as well. The Russian intervention in Syria was beneficial for the entire world. The Russians stopped the genocide of Syrian Christians and stopped Syria from becoming a failed state and a permanent breeding ground of jihadism.
During the Syrian war, Greek islands were flooded with refugees that burdened the then difficult Greek economy even further. That Mitsotakis criticizes the Russians on Syria indicates how far he will go to placate Washington. Mitsotakis past policies on Turkey were nationalistic but his foreign policy is becoming internationalist like the policies of so many previous Greek leaders.
So far, Mitsotakis has not capitulated on Turkey. The fact remains however that under Victoria Nuland’s influence the Trump supported deal between Greece, Cyprus, and Israel to carry oil to Europe was abolished and a new deal that includes Turkey was put together. At a minimum, Mitsotakis does not understand American foreign policy makers such as the pro war Nuland.
In the past Mitsotakis put together deals with Egypt and France that were directed against Turkey. Greeks should be concerned about the reversal of these agreements under the influence of the Biden administration. Mitsotakis is showing an alarming determination to please Washington at all costs.
The Russians have committed an act of aggression against Ukraine but even so, the Ukraine war remains complex. The American Democratic Party and the foreign policy establishment have been looking to start a war with Russia for years. They are trying to drag Greece into a confrontation with Russia and Iran.
Greece has a dispute with one country. That country is Turkey. Reportedly in Washington Mitsotakis asked the US to stop funding Turkish military aggression. It does not appear anything came from that.
The anti Russian sentiments in the western world are a symptom of internationalism. Greece has to be very careful with Russia. Before the Ukrainian war, there were reasons to be concerned about Russia. Russian support for Turkey and Moscow’s tolerance for the Turkish occupation of parts of Syria remain cause for concern. For Greece to embrace the anti Russian hysteria however is a serious mistake as is participating in and embracing policies favored by officials such as Nuland.
Mitsotakis appears to believe as his predecessors have that Greece is a part of the “west”. Formally, Greece is a member of the European Union and NATO. In reality, Greece is not favored by the western alliance. At the height of Erdogan’s aggression against the Greek islands Mitsotakis appealed to NATO and Germany.
Germany refused to stop arming Turkey and NATO refused to intervene to stop Turkish aggression against Greece. Mitsotakis risks becoming another Costas Simitis. That former Prime Minister, a notorious internationalist and anti Hellene gave up Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan to the Turks and endorsed the infamous Annan Plan for Cyprus.
Unconditionally and blindly supporting western foreign policy is a proven failure in Greece. Under the Biden administration it appears Washington remains pro Turkish. Athens should not be assisting the US against either Russia or Iran. Greece’s enemy is Turkey.
Athens should view the Biden administration as actively hostile toward Greece as long as people like Nuland are in positions of influence. To his credit, Mitsotakis raised the issues of Cyprus and Turkish aggression against Greece during his American visit. It remains to be seen if this was for show or if he was genuinely pushing the interests of Hellenism.
The big problem with the visit was the issue of show and not substance. Greeks are far too easily impressed with useless gestures of ceremony and how they are perceived by the powerful. Greeks should not care about a Greek Prime Minister addressing Congress.
Greeks should care about the security and sovereignty of Greece and Cyprus. Historically, Hellenic leaders in Greece and America have been so preoccupied with minor issues such as visiting Washington that they have ignored major defeats such as the ongoing occupation of Cyprus and the surrender of Greek islets such as that of Imia that took place on January 31, 1996.
It should be remembered that Greek Americans were thrilled that former President Clinton visited Athens in 1999. They totally forgot his administrations role in forcing Greece to withdraw from Imia and the slaughter of Greek Cypriots Tassos Isaac and Solomos Solomou in 1996. Substance matters and not useless displays of ceremony.
It is still early to fully assess the full implications of the Mitsotakis visit to America, but so far it does not appear that anything was achieved other than the fact that the Greek Prime Minister pledged his loyalty to the United States as so many failed and disgraced Greek leaders have previously done. Hopefully, this analysis will be proven wrong.
