Greece must cool its cozy relationship with the US and President Trump, opposition leader and former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told Politico in an exclusive interview.
Mapping out his political agenda ahead of a general election expected by next spring, the left-wing leader criticized current conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for making excessive concessions to the US. Tsipras contrasted Athens’ current approach with that of Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who notably blocked U.S. forces from utilizing military bases in his country.
While much of Europe continues to distance itself from the MAGA movement, Greece has doubled down on its relationship with Trump, Tsipras said. Rather than pursuing a regular renewal with a renegotiation of terms, the Mitsotakis administration has granted Washington open-ended access to pivotal military bases across the country, including Souda Bay, the strategically critical naval base on Crete.
Tsipras: Greece should not give a blank check to the US
Speaking to Politico, Tsipras argued that the incumbent government had gone too far. “Greek-U.S. relations are strategic in nature and must be guided by mutual benefit,” he said. “The government is pursuing a policy of blank checks, and this does not serve our national interests.”
The 51-year-old political veteran insisted that the operational priority for these military bases must center on Greece’s domestic security, rather than simply acceding to unilateral American demands.
“This is an issue that has arisen with great intensity during the recent war in Iran. We saw what the reaction of the Greek prime minister was, and what that of the Spanish prime minister was.”
Tsipras, who originally lost power in 2019, as the leader of the radical SYRIZA, launched a new political party in May called ELAS, aimed at uniting the country’s fragmented left-and-center opposition against Mitsotakis’ ruling New Democracy party.
While Tsipras has already elevated ELAS to the country’s No. 2 political force, overtaking socialist PASOK, he still trails considerably behind the prime minister. Politico’s Poll of Polls currently places New Democracy ahead at 30 percent, with ELAS holding 17 percent of voter support.
Related: Is Greece Replacing Turkey as the US’s Main Strategic Ally in the Region?
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