The second round of the Greece-United States Strategic Dialogue began on Monday in the wake of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Athens, which marked an upgrade of the Defence Agreement with Greece.
As we have mentioned in previous articles, the Agreement includes the modernization and expansion of the U.S. military installations in Greece.
Expressing his satisfaction over the signing of the Mutual Defence Cooperation Agreement (MDCA), Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias noted that "the strategic collaboration between the two countries is being significantly upgraded while in parallel our common volition to guarantee the effectiveness of our defence potentials is highlighted in the best possible way".
From his side, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pointed out that his visit in Athens marks a "new day" for the relations between the United States and Greece, a relationship that has truly never been stronger. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Saturday received Mike Pompeo at the Maximos mansion, where the two delegations discussed various issues including Turkey's provocative activities within the Cypriot EEZ, as well as the U.S-Greek collaboration in numerous sectors, such as defense, economy, tourism, education etc.
However, it becomes clear that the celebrations of the conservative New Democracy (ND) government over the results of Pompeo's visit are unrealistic.
"The government's celebrations over the results of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Athens and the signing of the Greek-U.S. agreement on the military bases are unrealistic and violate the truth", the Press Office of the CC of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) pointed out in a statement issued on Monday.
In the statement, the KKE notes that "the dangerous agreement on the bases, which was renewed and further upgraded, includes the base in Souda, in Marathi, the drone base in Larisa, the helicopter base in Stefanovikio and the port of Alexandroupolis. It turns Greece into an U.S.-NATO stronghold with huge risks for the country and serves the USA's goals, which are to increase its intervention in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East, North Africa and the Persian Gulf for the control of the energy resources and pipelines, in high competition with Russia and China."
Regarding Turkey and Cyprus, the KKE stresses out that "the bit about "protection from Turkey", "safety" and "stability" in the region are a smokescreen and are proved wrong by developments every day, as well as and by Greece's entanglement in imperialist competition, the escalation of Turkish aggressiveness and the violation of Cyprus' territorial rights, as well as the violations in the Aegean".
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| From Saturday's large anti-imperialist rally in Athens. |
Exposing the hypocrisy of the pro-U.S. politicians and media, the Communist Party writes in its statement: "The Americans, who two days ago asked for the participation of a Greek Navy ship in the U.S. multinational force in the Persian Gulf, just before Pompeo's departure from Athens, gave the green light to Turkey for the new military operation in northern Syria against the Syrian people. The various "little parrots" who talk about the accomplishments of the U.S-NATO imperialism have been exposed irreversibly".
As for the much-vaunted investments by U.S. monopoly groups in Greece, the KKE adds that they "aim to increase their own profits and have nothing to do with the workers' interests or with the needs of local communities".
The KKE salutes Saturday's large anti-imperialist mobilizations in Athens and other Greek cities against Pompeo's visit, pointing out that "the struggle continues so that all U.S. bases in Greece will be closed, against the participation of the Greek armed forces in imperialist missions abroad".
