The Greek government seeks deeper involvement in the planning of the Euro-Atlantic axis, with the aim of the geostrategic upgrade of local business groups, taking on even more dangerous roles within the US-NATO camp.
Characteristically, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, G. Gerapetritisand the Deputy Minister of Defense, G. Kefalogiannisparticipated yesterday in Foreign Affairs Council (SEY) of the EU, on whose agenda was the “Middle East crisis” and the war in Ukraine.
The High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Joseph Borelinformed the members of the Council specifically about the latest developments in the Ukrainian situation, while there was also an “exchange of views”, via teleconference, between the ministers of foreign affairs and defense of the EU member states with the ministers of foreign affairs and defense of Ukraine.
In this climate, the “further EU military support to Ukraine”, discussion where G. Kefalogiannis referred to the “up to date support of Greece”. It was preceded by the decision of the US Congress to support Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan with a new financial package.
A topic on the agenda of the SEY was also the situation in Sudan, which was discussed in the presence of the personal envoy of the United Nations. Finally, G. Gerapetritis participated in the High Level Forum of the European Union – Gulf Cooperation Council.
Coming to the Council, he proposed as a “solution” to the escalating wars the even greater involvement of the EU, with all that this entails for our country, and while the Conclusions of the EU Summit last week were literally equivalent to a “war declaration”.
Indirect government confirmation of “Financial Times”
We remind that, reiterating “full and unwavering support for Ukraine”, the European Council called “to urgently provide Ukraine with air defense means, to speed up and intensify all necessary military assistance, including artillery and missile shells.”
In other words, he called on the member states to send additional and upgraded war material to the Zelensky regime, escalating the NATO-Russia war on the territory of Ukraine, which is in danger of becoming generalized at any moment, with disastrous consequences for all the peoples of Europe.
Needless to say that the ND government is the first to respond to these NATO and EU decisions, having sharply increased its contribution to Ukraine’s military equipment, sending even banned white phosphorus weapons, while the recent US decision for new aid to the Zelenskyi government “facilitates”, according to competent actors, the granting to Kiev of the S-300, TOR/MI, OSA-AK and other systems.
Notably, the “Financial Times” wrote that EU leaders during the recent Summit in Brussels, urged both Mr. Mitsotakis and the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, to give some air defense systems to Ukraine, such as the missile systems of “Patriot” and S-300 (in the Greek case).
The main “argument” is that Greece and Spain do not need them the way Ukraine needs them and that they face “no imminent threat” (the EU once again “gargling” Turkey’s so-called casus belli at the expense of Greece in Aegean). “Prompts” that were also expected yesterday in the SEY to Gerapetritis and Kefalogiannis.
The government representative, P. Marinakis, when asked about it yesterday, he emphasized that “so far, we have practically shown our help to Ukraine, to the Ukrainian people”, while trying to cultivate complacency and cover up the discussion in the background, he claimed that “there is not going to be any move that will endanger , even minimally, the deterrent capability or the air defense of our country”.
Meanwhile, all this time, apparently preparing the climate, the government leaks that as systems they are becoming obsolete and/or are “not operationally necessary”. A false and misleading claim, as they are weapon systems of an advanced age, but with significant tactical capabilities, which is why they are intended for a modern war front, such as Ukraine’s. Their value is also proven by the reactions of the Armed Forces executives themselves, who are surprised to see the warehouses literally being emptied.
Ships and crews in ‘danger zone’
But also on the Middle East front, the European Council sent ultimatums and threats to Iran, playing the role of “frontman” for Israel, which is a state-killer and sheriff of Euro-Atlanticism in the region.
Obviously, the Greek government, being the flag bearer of Euro-Atlanticism in the region, wants more, which is why G. Gerapetritis raised the issue yesterday, saying verbatim: “Europe is facing an important crossroads. He has already done a lot. He will either choose to be at the cutting edge of developments with a more active presence, or he will remain in this situation.”
In this context, soon after the Council left for Qatar and Kuwait, countries of the Gulf, “so that we can all try together to be able to shape a framework for peace in the long-suffering region of the Middle East and to stop the humanitarian disaster that is taking place”, trying to give a peace-loving character to the ongoing capital market for parts of capitalist loot in the region.
An area where the Greek bourgeoisie also has a military presence, with the frigate “Hydra”, as part of the EU operation “Aspides”, while they are preparing to replace it after Easter with another Greek frigate (“Psara”). The “area of operations” officially includes the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea, the Sea of Oman, the Persian Gulf and the NW Indian Ocean.
According to information, the daily cost of deploying a frigate there can reach half a million euros, which burdens the respective member state (basically the people), apart of course from the risks for the crew. The Minister of Defense himself, N. Dendias, speaking to “Parapolitika”, he again admitted that the crew faces “difficult conditions” “in a dangerous area”, while already “having performed dozens of close protection missions on merchant ships”.
At the same time, another frigate, the “Spetses”, continues sailing off the coast of Lebanon, as part of the UN UNIFIL operation, to control the arms embargo on the Hezbollah organization. Indicative of the danger of this mission is the fact that already from the beginning of November 2023 in the Greek Ministry of Defense it was decided, “as a preventive measure for the safety of the personnel”, that each frigate participating in the mission should operate beyond 75 nautical miles from the coast of Lebanon, “out of the range of specific missiles and systems”, as they say, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t vulnerable to other weapons.
End, deployed in Saudi Arabia is the Hellenic Force of Saudi Arabia (ELDYSA), a “Patriot” guided missile artillery with dozens of cadres, and these in the “eye of the cyclone”, in the Yanbu region. The mission and the anti-aircraft “umbrella” it provides (reaching up to 100 miles) cover, among other things, energy infrastructure and other business plans against attacks by forces allegedly supported by Iran.
The dangerous Greek involvement in the war plans is increasing
In his comment on the publication of the “Financial Times” and the response of the government representative, the Press Office of the Central Committee of the KKE stresses:
“The publication of the “Financial Times”, which mentions the existence of pressure from Zelensky and EU leaders on the Greek government to send Patriot and S-300 air defense systems, proves the schemes to further involve the country in the imperialist war in Ukraine. The response of the government representative to a related question not only confirms these pressures, but – indirectly but clearly – also the existence of relevant negotiations, since what he denied is not the possibility of sending the weapons systems, but the “endangerment of the country’s deterrence capacity” which may be caused by such shipment. It is confirmed that the dangerous participation of the country in the imperialist war plans is being strengthened, with the responsibility of the ND government and the complicity of the other parties that swear by the “sacred alliance of NATO”.
(Reposted from “Radicalist”)
