A Disgraceful Servile Greece- US Defense Memorandum…

It provides for the placement of Greek defense personnel in American units, but which will be paid for by our country!

By Vassilis Galoupis
Mar 13, 2024

A memorandum to last for ten years is quietly coming to the Greek Parliament for ratification today, setting the country back decades, if not centuries. It is the first time that a Greek government breaks the barrier of the “protectorate” for the worse since it will not only provide “mercenary” members of our Armed Forces directly to the US military with a bilateral agreement but will also pay them with money from Greek taxpayers! Even America will hardly have achieved such a privileged agreement with another country.

This particular memorandum is so pitiful that it takes effort to believe it. However, it was filed last Friday, and today, it will be discussed for a vote on the principle, the articles, and the entire draft law. As expressly stated in the bilateral agreement, “this Memorandum of Cooperation establishes the terms and conditions through which the Greek Defense Personnel will be able to be assigned to units of the US Army in Europe to cover operational needs and at the same time be provided to the Greek Defense Personnel where the work experience and the skills and knowledge of multinational interoperability will be placed”.

It also made clear that the current position is non-reciprocal, that is, only Greece has an obligation to provide as many soldiers as the USA requests each time for its operational support in Europe, but not the other way around. Although the Greek Defense Personnel that will be “detached”, it will work for the benefit of the USA, they will nevertheless be paid by Greece! There is even the chilling prediction that Greece’s Ministry of National Defense is the one to undertake “all costs and expenses related to the preparation and shipment of the body and funeral expenses related to the death of a deployed member of the Greek Defense Personnel.” .

Part of the memorandum, which we present in detail today, came to light by militaire.gr, while the Foreign Affairs Committee objected that “this opens the back door to send an army to Ukraine”. On the part of the government, there was reassurance due to Article 3.6. However, the specific article leaves wide open the participation of Greeks deployed in hostilities: “The Host Party (US Department of Defense) will not place or continue to maintain Greek Defense Personnel in positions where there is a possibility of direct hostilities or that have already begun, UNLESS approved in writing by both parties, i.e. both the Parent Contracting Party (Greek Ministry of National Defense) and the Host Contracting Party (US Ministry of Defense)”.

In short, if the Americans request the participation of Greek Defense Personnel in war operations within Europe, it will only require a formal signature from the Greek side. And, as is well known, the Greek side rarely says “no” to the US. Precisely, in fact, because the Greek government is consistently acting in secret on the issue of sending weapons to Ukraine and has never, even though it has been repeatedly caught in the act, agreed to inform the Parliament, it is considered unlikely that it will do the same for the Greeks deployed in the US military . The “banana” type memorandum was submitted to the Parliament on March 8, 2024 with the signatures of K. Hatzidakis (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications), G. Gerapetritis (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), N. Dendias (National Defense) and G. Floridis (Justice).

What the disgraceful defense plan envisages – What are the key terms

The main terms of the memorandum regarding the deployment/placement of Greek Defense Personnel in the US military, which was signed from July 2022, are as follows:

• “This Memorandum of Cooperation establishes the terms and conditions through which Greek Defense Personnel will be able to be assigned to US Army units in Europe to cover operational needs and at the same time provide the Greek Defense Personnel who will be assigned with work experience and multinational interoperability skills and knowledge. This placement is NON-MUTUAL”.

• “The Greek Defense Personnel deployed will gain operational expertise and technical knowledge while providing operational support to the US military.”

• “If the Host Party (US Department of Defense) determines that the placement of Greek Defense Personnel is no longer necessary and is not in the interest of the Host Party, then the placement is terminated.”

• “The Host Party (U.S. Department of Defense) will not station or continue to maintain Greek Defense Personnel in positions where direct hostilities may occur or have already begun, UNLESS approved in writing by both parties, i.e. and by the Parent Contracting Party (Greek government) and by the Host Contracting Party (US Department of Defense)”.

“The uniforms and equipment will be returned at the end of the deployment of the Greek Defense Personnel. Any loss or damage excluding wear and tear due to normal use will be compensated by the Parent Contracting Party (deputy of the National Defense of Greece)”.

• “The Parent Contracting Party (Department of National Defense of Greece) will be responsible for all costs and expenses of the seconded Greek Defense Personnel for the basic fees and salaries and allowances including the “daily allowances” of the seconded Greek Defense Personnel, the living expenses, all costs and expenses related to the preparation and shipment of the body and funeral expenses related to the death of a seconded member of the Greek Defense Personnel and their dependent members”.

• “Disputes or disputes arising out of or in connection with this Memorandum of Understanding shall be resolved only through consultation between the Parties and shall not be referred to a natural person, national or international court or any other forum or third party for resolution.”

source – dimokratianews.gr