Over the past few years, any time Greek and U.S. officials meet up, they have congratulated each other on the strength of their bilateral relationship, a relationship both sides have qualified as being at an “all-time high”. In January of 2020, then-president Donald Trump met with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, stating, “The relationship is really extraordinary, I would say. Right? It’s as good as it can get.”
Mistotakis concurred, “You were right to point out that this relationship is the best it ever was,” before quickly adding, “But it can become even better.”
In May of 2022, Mitsotakis made another visit to the White House, and met with President Joe Biden. Biden welcomed the Greek premiere warmly, stating: “Today, the friendship and partnership between our countries, between Greeks and Americans is, I think, more important than ever. And I’m honored to celebrate a partnership with you because you’ve been a good friend.”
Mitsotakis responded that the relationship was “at an all time high,” before quickly noting Greece’s priorities in said relationship: “And I’m not just speaking about the defense component of the relationship, but I’m also speaking about trade, investment, Greece’s role as a reliable partner in the Eastern Mediterranean, as a country that overcame the financial crisis with a booming economy and is a pillar of stability both in the Balkans and in the broader region.”
These are not just the polite exchanges of politicians, political analysts also assert that Greek and U.S. relations are at a high. And as Greece looks to secure more and more military and economic support from Americans, it behooves Mitsotakis to keep Greece’s relationship with the U.S. at this vaunted height, regardless of who takes the seat in the oval office.
It is clear Mitsotakis has understood this. Over the past five years the Greek PM has played the same balancing act with both administrations – trying to convince Americans of Greece’s strategic importance in the region, while underlining Greece’s own requests.
In his meetings with the U.S. presidents, in speeches before Congress, and elsewhere, Mitsotakis has hit on what Greece has to offer – asserting that Greece is a “pillar of stability” in the Eastern Mediterranean, name-checking the Souda Bay Naval Base on Crete, (which the U.S. has been granted long-term access to a forward operating location,) and the LNG regasification facility in Alexandroupolis, (supported by Americans which began operations in October and will enable natural gas to flow into Eastern and Central Europe without involving Russia). Mitsotakis has underlined again and again Greece’s support for Ukraine, and its alignment with the U.S. and Europe on addressing Russian threats. He has also spoken nostalgically about a common commitment to democracy – arguing that the original Greek democracy inspired U.S. democracy which in turn inspired the Greek fighters for independence from the Ottomans.
But Mitsotakis has been persistent in what he is seeking from the U.S., which in addition to general economic investment and diplomatic support, is mostly enhanced defense and military collaboration. The big concern – that he references both openly and through insinuation – is Greece’s neighbor Turkey. In a meeting with Trump in 2020, Mitsotakis was forthcoming about this concern, stating: “I think it is important to point out that the agreement signed between Turkey and Libya infringes upon Greece’s sovereign rights and essentially causes great concern and instability in a region which is already highly problematic,” noting pointedly, “So we’ll be very much looking to your support to make sure that these types of provocative agreements are not being put into place.”
In a speech before U.S. Congress in 2022 he also obliquely mentioned concerns of Turkish aggression stating, “the last thing that NATO needs at a time when our focus is on helping Ukraine defeat Russia’s aggression is another source of instability on NATO’s Southeastern flank.” He made similar allusions on the Souda Bay Naval Base on Crete while touring U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in 2020, stating: “I was very glad to see that Mr. Pompeo shares our views. That he understands that tension between two NATO member states is to no one’s interest in the end. And that he also opposes every arbitrary action that a priori undermines every well-intended dialogue.”
This balancing act has worked for Mitsotakis. Defense cooperation agreements were signed, arms transfers were agreed, and more friendly meetings have been promised. Under Mitsotakis’ term, Greece has entered the F-35 program to acquire American fighter jets, as well as securing promises for several other American armaments. In 2019, the countries updated and resigned their Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement of 1990. These agreements are hard to wiggle out of, but the Greek premiere certainly doesn’t want to rock the boat, or play favorites with one U.S. president or another.
The Prime Minister has stated that regardless of the votes that shake out of U.S. ballot boxes and through the electoral college this Tuesday, and of what are two very different approaches to foreign policy from the U.S. candidates, the bilateral relationship between Greece and the U.S. will remain unchanged.
“I place particular emphasis on the strategic depth of the relationship that Greece has with the United States. We are working to make this relationship as strong as it can be,” Mitsotakis said in September. He assured the relationship would continue to improve regardless of who wins out in the U.S. elections, “because it is in the mutual interest of our two countries.”
