Is poor Greece a NATO chrity?

By William Mallinson

Greece is one of the poorest members of the European Union, having been battered by the IMF, Brussels and the European Bank into the status of an economic slave: hundreds of thousands of young people have left the country; the unemployment rate is high; and social services have been seriously eroded.

But Greece is now also a politico-military slave, barely responsible for its foreign policy, which is dictated by an Anglo-Saxon-led NATO. Not since the German appointed collaborationist government of 1941-3 has there been such a wide gap between the people and their alleged leaders.

Yet despite this, Greece has sent weapons to the Ukraine, and continues to do so. When the Ukrainian Defence Minister visited Athens in April, he was promised more artillery and small arms ammunition shipments, access to Greek hospitals for wounded military personnel and additional Soviet-era BMP infantry fighting vehicles.[1] Greek Defence Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos said: ‘We will provide every support to Ukraine at this very important, crucial stage of the war, and will continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes — that’s a very clear position that we have taken from the outset.’ By ‘we’, he certainly does not represent the Greek people, but rather a NATO quisling government.

As the Kiev US-instructed leadership continues to lose soldiers and equipment on a massive scale, one can legitimately ask what is the point of continuing any support, other than strictly humanitarian, for Ukraine. Ukraine is one the world’s most corrupt countries, possibly even more corrupt than before, as a result of the Maidan coup and its attack on the Russian-speakers of the Donbas. The corruption is so eye-watering that it has been impossible to cover up: several senior Ukrainian officials were dismissed early this year, in the wake of a corruption scandal surrounding illicit payments to deputy ministers and over-inflated military contracts: five regional governors, four deputy ministers and two heads of a government agency left their posts, alongside the deputy head of the presidential administration and the deputy attorney general.[2] These dismissals come across as window-dressing for passive readers in the West. But leopards do not change their spots.

Apart from massive economic corruption, security officials have been dismissed for alleged treachery: Zelensky dismissed the head of Ukraine’s spy agency (SBU) and the prosecutor general.[3] There is indeed a feeling of paranoia and mutual suspicion in Kiev itself, where there is underground support for Moscow, as well as for Ukrainian officials in Russian areas of the Ukraine, who are fully behind Moscow.

Militarily, matters are even more surrealistic: in Kiev’s desperation to receive ever more money and weapons, Zelenski is trying to show that Kiev deserves yet more billions of dollars and weapons, since his armed forces are ‘winning’. Yet the opposite is the case: every day, in their so-called offensive, Kiev is losing hundreds of men, tanks, armoured vehicles and artillery pieces, without territorial gains. The armed forces are beginning to see that their alleged offensive is just a political show without military reasoning.

Of course the Ukrainian artillery attack on Belgorad continues, since cowards often attack those who cannot defend themselves, namely unarmed civilians. In the meantime, Russia grows stronger and Europe weaker, with Europeans paying through the nose for failed sanctions, while Russia grows stronger: one interesting effect on Russia is that many are spending their holidays in such places as the Curonian Spit in near Zelenograd, which is becoming a veritable Côte d’Azur of the North.

Yet the Greek government continues to pour arms into a black hole, when it should use the money to pay pensions (many have been waiting for years) and improve, at the very least, its health services. Recently, a young mother-to-be died with her about-to-be-born baby while waiting five hours for an ambulance.[4] It seems that the Greek government prefers to use its hospitals for wounded Ukrainian soldiers.

As for Cyprus, where the people are generally friendly towards the large number of Russian residents, many wonder why a tiny country with nearly one quarter of its population being non-Cypriot, and which in 2011 succumbed to a ‘haircut’ of government debt that weakened its economy for years to come, is taking in Ukrainian refugees, adding to an already huge burden; why the Cypriot government has so far given over 3 million Euros[5] in financial aid; but in particular, why Cyprus is now offering technical training to the Ukrainian military on clearing landmines.[6] A mere drop in the ocean, some might say, yet hardly necessary, given Cyprus’ size and economic problems; but it is good public relations for NATO.

The big question is how long is this absurd situation going to continue, while American shareholders become ever richer, and the people of Greece (and Europe) poorer. If push comes to shove, the world seems to have conveniently forgotten that Russia is the world’s top nuclear power, and that the use of tactical nuclear weapons cannot be ruled out if the madness continues for too long.

[1] Nedeljkovic, Srdjan and Gatopoulos, Derek, AP, April 6, 2023.
[2] Euronews and AFP report 30/1/23
[3] BBC News 18 July 2022
[4] Greek City Times, 7 June, Ekathimerini, 8 June.
[5] KNEWS 30 December 2022.
[6] Ekathimerini, 7 April 2023.

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