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Wikileaks: Papandreou with anti-American comments, Samaras, Bakoyannis and Karamanlis - "friends" of USA

21 March 2011 / 15:03:37  GRReporter
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Declassified diplomatic telegrams and reports published on the well-known website Wikileaks make it clear that American diplomacy in Greece closely monitors the development of local politicians, their attitude to official Washington and its policy.

It has always been difficult for Papandreou to balance between the barons, who were in his father’s government, his personal staff and Kostas Simitis’ technocrats, said the US Ambassador in a telegram sent shortly after the re-election victory of New Democracy in 2007. In his opinion, today's Greek Prime Minister had to solve the problems in his own party long before taking over the country with all its problems. It is stated in a number of telegrams that not only Evangelos Venizelos was George Papandreou’s rival, but even some supporters of his.

American diplomats in Athens believe that in trying to balance all positions in PASOK "George Papandreou is straying from his traditional pro-Western stance and is increasingly resorting to patriotic and populist comments reminiscent of his father." In an attempt to attract traditional voters of PASOK and to strengthen his position against the comments that say that he ‘sold himself to the Americans’, George Papandreou has recently resorted to unspeakable anti-American comments," wrote the U.S. Ambassador in 2008. His changed position on the recognition of private universities, and his statements made in 2006 that Greece should increase its territorial waters at a distance of 12 nautical miles from shore are determined for such repositioning.

In a confidential telegram 09ATHENS1549, however, the Ambassador speaks of the "first and very positive meetings with the Prime Minister, whose mother is American and he himself was born and raised in the USA. George Papandreou was Minister of Foreign Affairs in previous PASOK governments and he is known abroad to be a thinking and constructive interlocutor. He must be careful in his rhetoric in the country in order to avoid being defined as "Americanist."

In a telegram sent in 2009, US diplomats define the current President of New Democracy Antonis Samaras as a "friend of the United States," and more eligible for the post of foreign or finance minister. They think he could not work well with Dora Bakoyannis, nor be below her, because "when her father’s government fell in 1993 Samaras left New Democracy and set up his own small party to show his dissatisfaction with the weak position of Mitsotakis on the “Macedonia” issue."

The former Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis is defined as a "Buddha of Greek politics," who rarely shares his thoughts. A day after his meeting with US Ambassador Daniel Speckhard, which lasted more than twice the planned time, a confidential telegram was sent to Washington. According to it, Kostas Karamanlis was not timid during the meeting and expressed his respect and friendly attitude towards the USA at every opportunity. "The discussion evolved without breaks and the conversation got "on fire" when we came to the Kosovo and Macedonia issues. He was sitting on his chair, playing with his worry beads. At the end of the discussion the former Prime Minister advised the new American ambassador not to have numerous contacts with political reporters and prominent businessmen in order not to become the subject of "Balkan gossip." During his visit to Greece just before the imposition of the veto against Macedonia's membership in NATO, the former US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns notes that "the usually calm Kostas Karamanlis is subjected to intense political pressure on the issue of Macedonia."

"The new Foreign Minister is an old friend of the United States" is the title of an enthusiastic telegram sent to Washington after Dora Bakoyannis held that post in February 2006. In the telegram, "the most popular mayor of Athens since the age of Pericles" is described as "moderate in foreign policy and particularly active against terrorism because of her personal terms after the murder of her first husband, Pavlos Bakoyannis." Dora Bakoyannis is a "supporter of the approximation of Greece with Turkey and supporter of its European perspective." To respond to the attacks that she was chosen by the Americans, in a conversation with the US Ambassador Charles Rhys she asks: "Did you see my picture on the front pages of today's press, which is placed against the American flag? Well, it does not annoy me."

The telegrams connected with terrorism show the concern of Americans for the possibility of the organization "November 17th” continuing its activities, and the suspected presence of Islamic terrorists among illegal immigrants in Greece. The USA’s interest in the continuing development of terrorism is very high. They are concerned about the exculpation and release of some captured members of the "November 17th". They point out on every occasion that some participants in the organization, who were involved in attacks on US diplomats and officials, have not yet been captured and the police do not even know who they are.

Great was the interest in the "courtship" of the government of Kostas Karamanlis to Moscow, the culmination being the Greek position on the war between Russia and Georgia, which apparently annoyed the USA.

The dispute over Macedonia's name also occupies a significant place in diplomatic telegrams, which show that there were a number of backstage consultations before and after the Greek veto over the membership of the former Yugoslav Republic in NATO. The telegrams make it clear that the USA used as a channel of communication not only the Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis, but her predecessor Petros Moliviatis as well as a very close diplomatic adviser to the Prime Minister at the time Kostas Karamanlis.

Tags: PoliticsConfidential telegramsWikileaksAmerican dimplomatsGreek politicsTerrorismForeign policy
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