Prominent issues in Greek foreign policy include a dispute over the name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the enduring Cyprus problem, Greek-Turkish differences over the Aegean, their idiosyncratic views on plane spotting, and relations with the USA.
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2 Albania 3 Turkey 4 The Middle East 5 United States 6 Illicit drugs 7 Terms |
Greek refusal to recognize Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) under its chosen name of "Republic of Macedonia" has been an important issue in Greek politics since 1992. Greece was adamantly opposed to the use of the name "Macedonia" by the government in Skopje, claiming that the name is intrinsically Greek and should not be used by a foreign country.
Furthermore, Greece believes that an independent "Republic of Macedonia" bordering the Greek region of Macedonia would fuel irredentist tensions in FYROM. The dispute led to a Greek trade embargo against FYROM. in February 1994. Mediation efforts by the UN, U.S., and EU brokered an interim solution to some of these differences in September 1995, leading to the lifting of the Greek embargo. Since the signing of these interim accords, the two governments have concluded agreements designed to facilitate the movement of people and goods across their common border and improve bilateral relations. Talks on remaining issues are still being held under UN auspices in New York.
Greece restored diplomatic relations with Albania in 1971, but the Greek government did not formally lift the state of war, declared during WWII, until 1987. After the fall of the Albanian communist regime in 1991, relations between Athens and Tirana became increasingly strained because of widespread allegations of mistreatment by Albanian authorities of the Greek ethnic minority in southern Albania and of the Albanian minorities in northern Greece. A wave of Albanian illegal economic migrants to Greece exacerbated tensions. On April 10, 1994, there was an attack on an Albanian military post near the Greek border by Greek commandos that left two Albanian soldiers dead and three wounded. The crisis in Greek-Albanian relations reached its peak in late August of 1994, when an Albanian court sentenced five members (a sixth member was added later) of the ethnic Greek organization "Omonia" to prison terms on charges of undermining the Albanian state. This was in retaliation for the border attack. Greece responded by freezing all EU aid to Albania and deporting 115,000 Albanians working in Greece, most as illegal immigrants but some with valid residence permits, and sealing its border with Albania [1]. In December 1994, however, Greece began to permit limited EU aid to Albania, while Albania released two of the Omonia defendants and reduced the sentences of the remaining four.
Today, relations between the two countries are relatively good, and, at the Albanian Government's request, about 250 Greek military personnel are stationed in Albania to assist with the training and restructuring the Albanian armed forces. There are still many Albanian workers in Greece that have not received legal papers despite promises by the Greek government. The Greek border police recently fired upon Albanian illegal immigrants as they passed the border, killing one and wounding another. This is the gravest incident among many abuses by the border police inflicted upon Albanian citizens that is raising tensions. Many Albanians also believe in allegations that the Greek government is trying to undermine Albanian economical growth, especially tourism, by bribing Albanian officials. Furthermore, many Greeks believe the large in-flux of Albanians into Greece to be responsible for the rapid rise of crime in Greece.
Greece and Turkey enjoyed good relations in the 1930s, but relations began to deteriorate in the mid-1950s, sparked by the Cyprus independence struggle and Turkish violence directed against the Greek minority in Istanbul. The July 1974 coup against Cyprus's President Makarios, inspired by the Greek military junta in Athens and the subsequent Turkish military intervention in Cyprus, helped bring about the fall of the Greek military dictatorship. It also led to the de facto division of Cyprus. Since then, Greece has strongly supported Greek-Cypriot efforts, calling for the removal of Turkish troops and the restoration of a unified state. The Republic of Cyprus has received strong support from Greece in international forums. Greece has a military contingent on Cyprus, and Greek officers fill some key positions in the Greek Cypriot National Guard, as permitted by the constitution of Cyprus.
Other issues dividing Greece and Turkey involve the delimitation of the continental shelf in the Aegean Sea, territorial waters and airspace, and the condition of the Greek minority in Turkey and the Muslim minority in Greece. Greek and Turkish officials held meetings in the 1970s to discuss differences on Aegean questions, but Greece discontinued these discussions in the fall of 1981. In 1983, Greece and Turkey held talks on trade and tourism, but these were suspended by Greece when Turkey recognized the Turkish-Cypriot declaration of an independent state in northern Cyprus in November 1983.
After a dangerous dispute in the Aegean in March 1987 concerning oil drilling rights, the Prime Ministers of Greece and Turkey exchanged messages exploring the possibility of resolving the dispute over the continental shelf. Greece wanted the dispute to be decided by the International Court of Justice. Turkey preferred bilateral political discussions. In early 1988, the Turkish and Greek Prime Ministers met at Davos, Switzerland, and later in Brussels. They agreed on various measures to reduce bilateral tensions and to encourage cooperation. New tensions over the Aegean Sea surfaced in November 1994, precipitated by Greece's ratification of the Law of the Sea Treaty and its ensuing statement that it reserved the right to declare a 12 nm territorial sea boundary around its Aegean islands as permitted by the treaty. Turkey stated that it would consider any such action a cause for war. New technical-level bilateral discussions began in 1994 but soon fizzled-out.
In January 1996, Greece and Turkey came close to an armed confrontation over the question of which country had sovereignty over an islet in the Aegean. In July 1997, on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid, Greek and Turkish leaders reached agreement on six principles to govern their bilateral relations. Within a few months, however, the two countries were again at odds over Aegean airspace and sovereignty issues. Tensions remain high. However, the two countries are discussing, under the auspices of the NATO Secretary General, various confidence-building measures to reduce the risk of military accidents or conflict in the Aegean.
Greece has a special interest in the Middle East because of its geographic position and its economic and historic ties to the area. Greece cooperated with allied forces during the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War. Since 1994, Greece has signed defense cooperation agreements with Israel and Egypt. In recent years, Greek leaders have made numerous trips to the region in order to strengthen bilateral ties and encourage the Middle East Peace Process. In July 1997, December 1997, and July 1998 Greece hosted meetings of Israeli and Palestinian politicians to contribute to the peace process.
The United States and Greece have long-standing historical, political, and cultural ties based on a common heritage, shared democratic values, and participation as Allies during World War II, the Korean conflict, and the Cold War. The U.S. is the largest foreign investor in Greece; U.S. foreign investment in Greece was about $1.5 billion in 1994.
About 1.1 million Americans are of Greek origin. The large, well-organized Greek-American community in the U.S. cultivates close political and cultural ties with Greece. Greece has the seventh-largest population of U.S. Social Security beneficiaries in the world.
During the Greek civil war of 1946-1949, the U.S. proclaimed the Truman Doctrine, promising assistance to governments resisting communist subjugation, and began a period of substantial financial and military aid. The U.S. has provided Greece with more than $11.1 billion in economic and security assistance since 1946. Economic programs were phased out by 1962, but military assistance has continued. In fiscal year 1995, Greece was the fourth-largest recipient of U.S. security assistance, receiving loans totaling $255.15 million in foreign military financing.
In 1953, the first defense cooperation agreement between Greece and the United States was signed, providing for the establishment and operation of American military installations on Greek territory. The current mutual defense cooperation agreement (MDCA) provides for continued U.S. military assistance to Greece and the operation by the U.S. of a major military facility at Souda Bay, Crete.
However, there is also much anti-American sentiment in Greece as a result of the United States meddling in Greece's affairs a number of times with negative results. The United States intervened in the Greek civil war, taking the side of the neo-fascists against the Greek left which had fought the Nazis. The neo-fascists won and instituted a highly brutal regime, for which the CIA created a new internal security agency, KYP. Before long, KYP was carrying out all the endearing practices of secret police everywhere, including systematic torture.
Furthermore, the United States CIA assisted in the 1967 coup. The military coup took place in April 1967, just two days before the campaign for national elections was to begin, elections which appeared certain to bring the veteran liberal leader George Papandreou back as prime minister. Papandreou had been elected in February 1964 with the only outright majority in the history of modern Greek elections. The successful machinations to unseat him had begun immediately, a joint effort of the Royal Court, the Greek military, and the American military and CIA stationed in Greece.
The 1967 coup was followed immediately by the traditional martial law, censorship, arrests, beatings, torture, and killings, the victims totaling some 8,000 in the first month. This was accompanied by the equally traditional declaration that this was all being done to save the nation from a "Communist takeover." Corrupting and subversive influences in Greek life were to be removed. Among these were miniskirts, long hair, and foreign newspapers; church attendance for the young would be compulsory.
James Becket, an American attorney sent to Greece by Amnesty International, wrote in December 1969 that "a conservative estimate would place at not less than two thousand" the number of people tortured, usually in the most gruesome of ways, often with equipment supplied by the United States.
Becket reported the following: Hundreds of prisoners have listened to the little speech given by Inspector Basil Lambrou, who sits behind his desk which displays the red, white, and blue clasped-hand symbol of American aid. He tries to show the prisoner the absolute futility of resistance: "You make yourself ridiculous by thinking you can do anything. The world is divided in two. There are the communists on that side and on this side the free world. The Russians and the Americans, no one else. What are we? Americans. Behind me there is the government, behind the government is NATO, behind NATO is the U.S. You can't fight us, we are Americans."
The occupation of Iraq by the United States has only furthered the view of the United States as belligerent in the eyes of Greeks living in Greece.
Greece is a gateway to Europe for traffickers smuggling cannabis and heroin from the Middle East and Southwest Asia to the West, and precursor chemicals to the East. Some South American cocaine transits or is consumed in Greece.
The region is mostly Orthodox in religion.
The current CIA director George J. Tenet is a Greek from Northern Epirus.
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Albania
Turkey
The Middle East
United States
Illicit drugs
Terms
Some terms have significant importance to Greek foreign policy:Eastern Thrace
A name for the European part of Turkey, west of Istanbul. This name is usually used by the Greeks, mostly by Greek families that were forced out of that region between 1912 - 1923.Northern Epirus
Northern Epirus is the what the Greek government calls the region of southern Albania where there also live Greek minorities. The government of Greece claims that this territory is inhabited mostly by Greeks, whereas the government of Albania maintains that it is Albanian territory with Greek minorities. There are villages in the south of Albania where Greek is the predominant language. There have been many small incidents between the Greek minorities and Albanian authorities over issues such as the interference of the Greek government in local politics, the raising of the Greek flag on Albanian territory, the language taught in school, etc, however the issues have for the most part been non-violent.Smyrna
Smyrna (most correctly Smyrni) was the Greek name for the city of Izmir, Turkey.Enosis
The word Ένωσις (enosis) is Greek for union. During the time when Britain ruled Cyprus (1889 - 1959), and since Cypriot independence, the word has referred to a proposed union in which Cyprus would become a part of Greece. Enosis became an international issue in the 1950s when the United Nations began to debate the issue. It has been advocated by some Cypriots of Greek ethnicity and opposed by those of Turkish ethnicity. Archbishop Makarios, who was president of Cyprus from the time of its independence until his death 28 years later, advocated enosis.Great Greece
Megali Ellas or Megali Ellada: Great Greece. Refers to Southern Italy and used by Ancient Greeks.
