During the First World War, Germany was the ally of the Ottoman Empire. The Germans gave military, diplomatic, and political support to the Young Turks when the genocide of the Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks was well under way. During the Second World War, Germany occupied Greece and caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Greeks through either massacres or famine.
The Germans have proven that no matter whether they are ruled by the Kaiser, Hitler, or Angela Merkel they remain firmly consistent in their disregard for the rights of Greece. Germany is not, never has been, and never will be a friend of Greece. The Washington Post now reports that Germany may have arranged a meeting between Prime Minister Mitsotakis and President Erdogan.
The Greek Prime Minister must be very careful not to make any concessions. International law is on the side of Greece and the support for Greece from France, Italy, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates has has been achieved through diplomacy and hard work. German interests are not Greek interests.
Many Greek Americans are opposed to President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia. This is a mistake. While it is true that Russia presently enjoys friendly relations with Turkey, that is likely to change as is the relationship between President Trump and President Erdogan. It German Chancellor Angela Merkel that Greeks everywhere should be looking at with hostility.
Germany has evolved from the country that was appeased in 1938 to the country that is Europe’s appeaser in 2020. The Germans are looking to appease President Erdogan’s Turkey. The Turks are threatening to flood Europe with millions of refugees. Rather than being outraged by Turkish blackmail and concluding that Ankara should be challenged, Berlin seeks to appease Ankara and probably at the expense of Athens.
Prime Mitsotakis has done well in deterring Turkish aggression. It would be a mistake for him to embrace the pan European internationalism that the Socialist Party (PASOK) embraced between 1996 and 2004. If Greece accepts a flawed agreement with Turkey under German auspices this will be victory of Pan European internationalism at the expense of Pan Hellenic nationalism. Turkey is an international threat and menace and capitulating to Ankara will only make that threat much worse.
The Washington Post following the New York Times thinks “diplomacy” is a good thing. This depends on what “diplomacy” looks like. The New York Times lamented the absence of Richard Holbrooke who was an appeaser of Turkish aggression in 1996. The Washington Post commends Angela Merkel’s initiative. Athens must beware lest Angela Merkel becomes the Richard Holbrooke of 2020 and Athens snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.
3 replies on “The Germans Again”
Germany has no right to claim ethical leadership of this or any other issue which comes before the EU. This is the same Germany who promoted two great wars in the last century in which millions of human beings living in the small nations of Europe died. 1 in 10 people in Greece died during WW2 from war, starvation or disease brought on by starvation during the NAZI occupation. Turkey supplied vital war materials to Germany during WW2 which allowed the NAZI regime to continue the war for at least a year longer than they would have been able to, according to NAZI war minister Albert Speer himself. Germany must earn the right to take the lead on representing the EU on these types of issues, they have not done so yet. In the case of Greece, the Germans need to sit back, be quiet and let nations with better records on defending international law and human rights take the lead. Berlin’s image is still tarnished from it’d deplorable policies in the last century.
All you say is true. And Germany is still trying to stick it to the Greeks.
Germans can’t overcome their natural arrogance and condescension toward the southern nations of Europe. It’s true that the Greeks don’t help themselves by their historical political corruption, which contributed to the massive national debt crisis which transpired 6 years ago. A few years back Greeks saw nothing wrong with voting in socialist, big spending governments while at the same time hiding their income so THEY wouldn’t have to pay their fair share of taxes. The TROIKA instituted long needed reforms and the situation in Greece is significantly better today. But it allowed the Germans to point at Greece and castigate them for their backwardness. There is a different Greece today, but the natural arrogance of northern European nations is still in evidence. I’d NEVER rely on Germany to defend Greek sovereign interests in arbitration with Turkey, all the Germans care about is keeping economic refugees in Turkey from making it to the big German cities. They’ll screw Greece the first chance they get to strike a deal with Turkey-and most Greeks know it.