Athanasios Ellis
In the coming weeks and months, we will witness a focused effort by the US to limit the role and influence of China in Greece. This is nothing new. It has been a constant policy of Washington over many years, but it is clear that the engagement will become more intense. Recent comments by the new US ambassador to Athens are indicative of America’s determination.
Although at the leadership level, the US-China relationship has entered a less tense phase after the recent meeting between Presidents Trump and Xi, the competition between the world’s two largest economies is well under way, and it is only natural that it would unfold on Greek soil too.
At this stage, the main “point of friction” is the port of Piraeus, in which Beijing had invested at a time when the US and the West in general had not shown the willingness to do so. And in the years that followed, when the Greek economy was under pressure and the need for foreign cash flow and know-how perhaps greater than ever, many Westerners did not dare to invest in Greece; it was a mistake, both on the commercial and the geopolitical level.
China integrated the largest Greek port, and one of the most important ones in Europe, into its long-term global planning, making it a main gateway to European markets.
For its part, the US has never hidden its opposition to Chinese influence, and has its sights set on a series of options regarding the use of Greece as a gateway for its own exports, including energy sources.
Greece builds on its geographical position, its participation in the EU, its strategic relationship with America, its close cooperation with Israel, its traditional ties with the Arab world, and the synergies that are developing with India, the third largest economy in the world, both bilaterally and through the prospects created by the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, or IMEC.
A reliable partner with a clear Western orientation, Athens is ready to play a significant regional role; in this light it will assess and evaluate different proposals and actions, without exclusions, based on how they best serve its national interests.
