Image via WikipediaIf international relations are a matter of mutual interests, then it should be no surprise that Greece and the United States have grown closer these days. That is evidenced by the visit of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Athens, planned for July 17-18, at a time when US-Greece relations are better than they have been in a long time. The Secretary of State put Greece on the itinerary of a tour that includes Turkey and India at a time when Greece can use every voice of support it can get in grappling with its fiscal crisis. Washington’s support has been among the strongest and most public.
The intercessions of US President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, mainly with Germany, have had a weighty impact at crucial junctures in the Greek debt saga.
Now, as Europe scampers for a comprehensive solution to the Greek and the broader eurozone debt crisis, Clinton is expected to send clear messages of support both to the Papandreou government for its reform efforts - something that might help the premier rally his often recalcitrant parliamentary group - and to the eurozone for its frantic efforts to get its fiscal house in order.
Undoubtedly, what happens in Greece has a distinct impact across the Atlantic, as fears of contagion of the European debt crisis run high.
In early July, after Papandreou passed a harsh austerity and reform programme in parliament, American analysts conceded that the Greek problem had been weighing down US equity markets for several weeks. “The US strategic vision is based on the European Union as a powerful, economically prosperous pole of attraction for the states around it. If the EU melts down, it would be bad for everyone,” Brady Kiesling, a former US diplomat, told the Athens News. “A big blow to the eurozone would impact on the US and world economy. No one knows exactly what it would do but everyone assumes it would be bad. It would probably be worse than Lehman Brothers in terms of confidence in the economy,” he added, referring to the largest bankruptcy in US history that contributed to a global financial crisis in 2008.
Libya and Israel on agenda
The State Department announced that “issues of mutual interest” will be on Clinton’s agenda for talks with Papandreou, Foreign Minister Stavros Lambrinidis and President Karolos Papoulias. This would include developments in the Middle East and North Africa - where recent events have upgraded the significance of Greece’s geopolitical role - Cyprus settlement efforts, and a briefing on the state of Greek-Turkish relations. On Libya, where Athens maintains useful channels of communications with both the Gaddafi regime and rebels, Greece has maintained from the start that a political solution, with a strong UN role, is the only way out. This position has gained ground with US diplomacy as well.
Washington naturally welcomes Greece’s deepening ties with Israel over the last year, most recently evidenced by Papoulias’ official visit to the Middle East country. That will no doubt garner praise from Clinton, a strong friend of Israel, especially after Greece’s recent move to block an international flotilla that aimed to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza. US diplomacy has also supported Papandreou’s Balkan initiative, called Agenda 2014, to set a clear roadmap and timetable for the EU accession of western Balkan countries, though that seems a distant prospect at the moment.
Source: http://www.athensnews.gr
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