from Covert magazine
Pompeo in Greece: Expanding the U.S. Empire in the Eastern Mediterranean
By Andrew Lee - November 1, 2020
After the meeting: (right) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and (left)
Athanasios Savvakis, President of the League of Greek Industrialists.
[Source: sbe.org]
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Thessaloniki and Crete in Greece
on September 28-30-the second tour in the span of a year and only a few
weeks before the U.S. presidential elections-furthers the aggressive U.S.
agenda shaping the latest political developments in the region.
The real purpose of Pompeo's visit was to augment the militarization of
Crete and the U.S. military and economic supremacy in the region.
As CAM previously reported, Souda Base in Crete: location and proximity to
the hot spots in the Eastern Mediterranean. [Source: lexingtoninstitute.org]
Regardless of the outcome of the elections on November 3, the strategic
policy of the U.S. in Greece and the Balkans will not alter significantly
from this goal. Pompeo is not only the head of U.S. diplomacy but also the
former Director of the CIA. The current head of the Greek Secret Services
(EYP), Panayiotis Kontoleon, was formerly employed by the U.S. embassy in
Athens to provide for its security.
Greece is being considered as a new fulcrum for U.S. plans in the wider
region of the Balkans and the Middle East, including the Arab Gulf
countries, Israel and the southeastern Mediterranean. The longer-term
targets include Syria, Lebanon, Iran, and Russia's southern military front.
As CAM previously reported, Greece's strategic significance has increased
because of the U.S. turn away from Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdoğan is no longer seen as a reliable ally because of (1) his growing ties
to Russia, (2) his attacks on America's Kurdish allies in Syria, and (3) his
belief that the U.S. was behind the 2016 coup attempt to oust him from
office.
During Pompeo's visits to Thessaloniki and then to Chania in Crete and the
U.S. military base nearby at Souda, there were meetings with the Minister of
Defense Nikos Panagiotopoulos; Greece's Foreign Affairs Minister, Nikos
Dendias; and Minister of Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Kostas
Hatzidakis. He also held meetings with Adonis Georgiadis, Minister of
Development and Investments alongside the League of Greek Industrialists
(SBE). In this latter context, a meeting was held between various Greek
companies and U.S. companies such as Cisco Systems and Deloitte with the
intermediation of the U.S. embassy. The accounting firm Deloitte is a major
player in U.S. military and intelligence projects.
Pompeo's visit in Thessaloniki. In the center Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos
Mitsotakis and on the left Mike Pompeo. On the right Minister of Foreign
Affairs Nikos Dendias. Note Geoffrey Pyatt with his head turned to Pompeo.
[Source: in.gr]
Official Joint Statements of U.S.-Greek Strategic Dialogue
Greece reaffirmed its commitment to coordinate its controversial maritime
delimitation issues with the U.S. and their close cooperation, as NATO
allies, in the wider region.
This includes cooperation in various sectors in the framework of the 3+1
format (Cyprus, Greece, Israel, and the United States). They reiterated
their support for the integration of all the countries in the western
Balkans into European and transatlantic institutions, including Alexis
Tsipras's Prespes Agreement of June 18, 2018, which facilitated North
Macedonia's subsequent accession to NATO.
Subjects of the discussions
(1) Defense and Security
Pompeo and his Greek allies reaffirmed their intent to further enhance the
U.S.-Greece Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement, which was last updated in
October 2019, and the integration and interoperability of their militaries.
The most important deal that Pompeo managed to achieve was the extension of
U.S. control of the Souda base in Crete. A new deal was struck concerning
the permanent docking of the USS Hershel 'Woody' Williams in Souda base. It
is a platform and helicopter carrier which also serves as a repair ship for
the U.S.Sixth Fleet in the region.
USS Hershel ''Woody'' Williams in Crete. [Source: ert.gr]
In other words, Souda will become the largest and most important U.S. naval
base in the eastern Mediterranean with 25,000 personnel in the next few
years.
Moreover, the official joint speech between Mike Pompeo and Kyriakos
Mitsotakis took place at the U.S. Souda Base: Mitsotakis was there on
U.S.-not Greek-military turf, notably not in Athens. Greece has based its
Air Force 115 Combat Wing, which utilizes Lockheed's F-16s, at Souda.
Greece confirmed the renovation of part of its F-16 fleet[1] by Lockheed
Martin, securing the company's interests in Greece even though the French
Dassault Aviation Company sold 18 Rafale Jets to Greece on September 10.
While Pompeo was still CIA Director and ExxonMobil's Rex Tillerson was
Secretary of State, on October 17, 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump met
with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Washington, D.C. Trump, who has
repeatedly criticized NATO countries for not meeting the alliance's defense
budget targets, applauded Greece for meeting the goal of each member
spending two percent of their gross domestic product.
"They're upgrading their fleets of airplanes-the F-16 plane, which is a
terrific plane," Trump said two years ago, ahead of a bilateral meeting.
"They're doing big upgrades."
According to the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the complete
package included the necessary components to bring 123 of Greece's existing
F-16C and D fighter jets up to Lockheed Martin's new F-16V standard, which
the company first introduced in 2012. The upgrades include, among other
things, new mission computers, navigation systems, multifunction displays,
Advanced Identification Friend or Foe (AIFF) transponders, and the Link-16
tactical data link. The F-16C/D already has expanded range and an ability to
utilize more advanced weapons systems.
Pompeo and Mitsotakis after the speech in Souda base. [Souce: skai.gr]
(2) Law Enforcement and Counterterrorism
Despite the global pandemic, outstanding U.S.-Greece law enforcement
cooperation on arrests, seizures, and extraditions has continued unabated.
The U.S. has insisted that Greece's future role as a base for U.S. regional
operations would require local security measures including border security
and counterterrorism information sharing and collaboration. Greece and the
U.S. committed to full implementation of the 2016 Joint Statement on
Greece's participation in the Visa Waiver Program, including beginning
issuance of an updated national identification card and fully collecting and
analyzing air passenger data.
(3) Energy
U.S. energy priorities under discussion included:
completion of the Greek section of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline;
their mutual support for the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria;
the floating storage regasification unit project at Alexandroupoli;
the privatization of the Kavala underground gas storage;
the Interconnection Greece-North Macedonia project;
and other commercially viable projects, which could include the EastMed Gas
Pipeline; and
furthering the so-called Strategic Dialogue on additional projects.
Both sides welcomed the September 22 formal establishment of the EastMed Gas
Forum as a regional organization and the ongoing successful cooperation on
energy through the 3+1 process. Greece and the United States underlined the
participation of ExxonMobil in partnership with Total and Hellenic Petroleum
in offshore exploration blocks off the coast of Crete, as well as the
potential opportunities for U.S. investment in the renewable energy sector,
with the recently ratified Greek Law "Modernization of Environmental
Legislation."
Another point in the current discussions that was almost omitted by the
Greek media was the privatization of Kavala and Alexandroupoli ports in
northern Greece for the transport of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG), thus
interrupting the Russian gas pipelines in the region. This was made possible
through Black Summit Financial Group which invested heavily in the region.
Pompeo was very cunning in blocking Russian and Chinese economic interests
in the region by using Greece's strategic position and the subservience of
the Kyriakos Mitsotakis government.
(4) Trade and Investment
Greece assured its patron of a secure investment environment for U.S.
capitalist plunder including further privatization of strategic
infrastructure. It also welcomed the inauguration of new investments and
acquisitions by U.S. companies in Greece and reaffirmed its commitment to
encourage that trend. Other measures related to intellectual property
concessions enacted in 2019, which resulted in Greece's removal from the
Office of the United States Trade Representative's Special 301 Report this
year. Other subjects included cooperation on artificial intelligence, cyber
security and 5G.
Another very interesting point from this official visit is the confirmation
of Greece and its biggest telephone company COSMOTE to cease using the
Chinese 5G technology, developed by Huawei, in favor of technology developed
by Ericsson. Despite the absence of reference to this subject in the Greek
media, it was very high on the priority list of the State Department.
This is not the first time that U.S. commercial opponents have been extorted
and blocked, reminiscent of a more sophisticated version of 20th century
"gunboat" diplomacy.
Mitsotakis harbors fond memories of a prior CIA director visit to Crete
No doubt the recent visit completed a circle of Mitsotakis's loyal efforts
on behalf of the Americans. On September 29, Pompeo and his wife arrived in
Chania, Crete, at the residence of Kyriakos Mitsotakis where they stayed for
one day. This particular visit is reminiscent of George H.W. Bush's stay in
the same house with then Prime Minister Konstantinos Mitsotakis, father of
current Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Back in 1991, Konstantinos Mitsotakis is center-right with President and
former CIA director George Bush center-left. [Source: flash.gr]
(Left to right) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Prime Minister Kyriakos
Mitsotakis, U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt, and Minister of Defense Nikos
Panagiotopoulos. (September 29, 2020) [Source: cretapost.gr]
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrives at the Souda base accompanied by
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos
Dendias. [Source: flash.gr]
Securing the U.S. Presence in the Eastern Mediterranean
From the standpoint of U.S. strategy in the region, the trip was a
remarkable success since it guarantees its presence in the Eastern
Mediterranean and ensures U.S. influence in regional geopolitical
developments for the next decades. With ExxonMobil heavily invested in Crete
and Cyprus, and U.S. political and military plans regarding Turkey remain
apparently unclear, Pompeo chose not to comment on the growing Greek-Turkish
conflicts. Meanwhile, there is speculation that the U.S. is discussing the
possible removal of nuclear weapons from Turkey and relocating them to
Greece.
Pompeo's visit was followed by a visit on October 14th by R. Clarke Cooper,
the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for political and military affairs,
who met with senior Greek military and political officials before going on
to the U.S. naval base at Souda.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, R. Clarke Cooper (left) on his recent
visit to Greece. [Source: https://hania.news]
An Iraq War combat veteran who previously worked as an advisor to ambassador
Zalmay Khalilzad in the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Cooper subsequently
traveled to Bulgaria, where the U.S. recently "donated" two F-16 fighters
for free, as part of expanded efforts to encircle Russia militarily. Russia
and Bulgaria have historically enjoyed very close diplomatic relations.
However, the U.S. is taking advantage of developing strains when the
Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized a World War II exhibition
titled the "Liberation of Bulgaria" at the Russian Cultural Center in Sofia;
he then published a statement saying that the Red Army brought "half a
century of repressions to Central and Eastern Europe" by "Soviet bayonets."
From Bulgaria, Cooper went on to Poland, to solidify the U.S. military
alliance there, and to Cyprus in order to promote cooperation in the
training of the Cypriot Armed Forces by the U.S. It should be noted that the
Trump administration recently decided to include the Republic of Cyprus in
the International Military Training and Training Program (IMET) and to
proceed with the partial lifting of the embargo on the sale of American
weapons.
Overall, we see a very clear imperial strategy in which the U.S. is turning
away from Western Europe towards the Mediterranean and East as the new Cold
War takes shape, while trying to resurrect the Intermarium-a geopolitical
concept originating in the post-World War I era that envisages an alliance
of countries reaching from the Baltic Sea over the Black Sea to the Aegean
Sea that would serve as an alternative power bloc between Germany and
Russia.
The Greeks are just one pawn in a larger geopolitical chess match-a
potentially deadly game which likely won't end very well for almost everyone
involved.
