Athens – Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis flies to Washington for talks with President Joe Biden on Monday, their first since taking office. Mitsotakis is expected to discuss Turkey and efforts to ease tensions between the two countries and NATO allies. But as the conflict in Ukraine rages, talks will also focus on efforts to turn Greece into an EU energy port, reducing dependence on Russian gas and oil.
The timing of Kyriakos Mitsotaki’s visit to Washington is crucial, Greek officials say.
Relations between Turkey and Greece are strained, and Mitsotakis will not waste any time, his aides said, citing what they call “repeated provocations” that Turkey has carried out in recent weeks … and ordered fighter jets to carry out a record number of dangerous overflights. through Greek airspace – violations that can trigger conflicts between the two sides and increased instability in Europe’s already troubled landscapes.
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But instead of just complaining, Greek government officials, such as Kostis Hadzidakis, say Mitsotakis has some offers of interest to the United States.
“We do not want to go there and whine, complain and beg for action in our favor,” he says. “We want to show Greece as a credible and reliable ally,” he said.
On the defense front, Mitsotakis plans to offer Greek assistance in building F-35 fighter jets – a project of which its rival neighbor, Turkey, was once a part. But in 2019, Ankara was ousted after agreeing to buy a Russian ground-to-air missile system from Moscow – a serious breach of NATO rules.
With Tukey also objecting to Finland and Sweden joining NATO, that incentive, experts in Athens say, could prove appealing to US interests.
However, it is still unclear whether it will move forward.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, on the left, leaves the building during a break in an informal meeting with NATO foreign ministers on the conflict in Ukraine on 15 May 2022 in Berlin.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu will be in Washington a day after Mitsotakis, and when the Greek leader speaks to Congress for the first time, the Turkish official will meet with his US counterpart to find out the details of Ankara’s bid to buy 40. new F-16 aircraft.
On Sunday, the night before Mitsotaki’s White House meeting, the Biden administration asked Congress to approve the sale of arms and equipment upgrades to Turkey’s fleet of US-made F-16 fighter jets, a sign that relations between NATO allies are thawing. The Russian war in Ukraine drags on.
The development leaves Greece playing the energy card, experts say here, and appeals to US interests in a climate of what diplomats like George Koumoutsakos call rapidly changing geopolitics as the conflict in Ukraine continues.
“Everything is changing in our region,” said Koumoutsakos. “A new balance of power will clearly emerge when the conflict in Ukraine ends. And the question is where does Greece want to be: on the side of the powerful and with an upgraded region in the greater region?”
In a lucrative project, Greece plans to complete a pipeline to Bulgaria that will end Russia’s gas monopoly there and for the rest of southeastern Europe.
FILE – An employee walks on the Bulgartransgaz gas compressor station near the city of Provadia, approximately 410 km (255 miles) northeast of Sofia, September 30, 2012.
The importance of the so-called Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria, or IGB, is that it may soon become a key channel replacing Russian gas throughout the Balkans, with liquefied natural gas, known as LNG, from the United States, Qatar, Egypt and elsewhere.
Liquid storage facilities for LNG are also being built in the northern Greek region of Alexandroupolis, potentially giving Greece the opportunity to turn the country into a key gateway for LNG to south-eastern Europe and beyond.
Once completed, the energy project could reduce dependence on Russian energy and the design of Russian President Vladimir Putin – to use energy in what analysts call a “risky geopolitical game”.
Source: sn.dk