The constantly deteriorating crisis in Euro-Atlantic relations has not affected the cooperation between Athens and Washington, with officials from both sides working behind the scenes to prepare for the next round of strategic dialogue that will take place in Greece by the end of the year. In this context, a visit by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is considered certain. Beyond that, however, a stop in Athens by President Trump is not ruled out.
Trump visit to Greece
“Parapolitika” had already announced this since February, with our newspaper’s reporting revealing that the visit will most likely be combined with the NATO Summit (July 7-8) that will take place in Ankara. The ever-active and persistent US Ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle, confirmed this report. Speaking with ERT executives, she said she hopes that D. Trump will come to our country. Those well-versed in behind-the-scenes preparations connect this announcement with the American president’s arrival due to the NATO Summit in the region. “There is positive disposition from both sides, however there has been no official briefing nor official arrangement of the visit,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lana Zochios stated for her part.
The author, however, came into contact with competent sources, who noted that “after Ankara a stop in Athens is very likely,” referring to both President Trump and his ministers – Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and of course Marco Rubio. Analysts point out that the visit of American officials to Greece, if it indeed takes place, will “secure” a calm summer for Greek-Turkish relations. “Hegseth and Rubio will build a security ‘wall’ for Greece,” they characteristically said.
Turkish bluster
The news did not please Ankara, of course. Well-known analysts, speaking on CNN Turk, presented our country, grosso modo, as an American protectorate. “Greece is like a newborn child that cannot walk alone without help. Without having any position and without help it cannot stand alone, and it knows this. The US turned Greece into little America,” Coskun Basboug characteristically said. A few hours later, Tayyip Erdogan attempted to pour oil on the fire that smolders in the bosom of the “old continent,” accusing Europeans of including Greece and Cyprus in the European Union because of the Cyprus issue, instead of including Turkey, while also maintaining that Europe needs his country. “Pay attention, I say it clearly. Today Europe’s need for Turkey is greater than Turkey’s need for Europe and in the future it will be even greater,” T. Erdogan concluded.
Intercontinental missile
As usual, Ankara’s maximalist proclamations were accompanied by provocative acts. On one hand, the newspaper “Milliyet” published an article revealing that Turkey is about to institutionalize a… law of the sea, essentially seeking to “dress” the revisionist narrative of “Blue Homeland” and its irrational demands arising from it with a legal framework. On the other hand, Ankara presented its intercontinental ballistic missile, which is capable of hitting targets at distances of up to 6 thousand kilometers. This is the hypersonic ballistic missile named “Yildirimhan,” which was presented at the international defense equipment exhibition SAHA. The Turks claim that this is the most powerful missile, with a range reaching 6 thousand kilometers and thus can, theoretically, hit targets even as far as Canada.
Dendias’s message
The most resounding message to Turkey -but also generally to every would-be aggressor- was sent, as usual, by Nikos Dendias. Speaking at the DEFEA conference, the Defense Minister stressed that there is not only a window, but an entire avenue for solving the Greek-Turkish difference, if Turkey wants it, saying characteristically: “The Greek-Turkish difference can be solved easily and with mutual benefits for both us and Turkey.” However, Mr. Dendias meaningfully repeated a phrase from the President of the United Arab Emirates: “Let our enemies be careful, because we have very hard skin and very bitter flesh, if they bite us.”
Published in Parapolitika
