Greece is expected to ratify a landmark defense agreement with the U.S. on Thursday days before PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis is due to visit the White House.
During the debate in Parliament on the Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement (MDCA) Mitsotakis appealed to lawmakers’ sense of patriotism.
“The American writer Mark Twain said that patriotism is to support your country at all times and your government when it deserves it,” he said in his speech to MPs, outlining the benefits of the agreement, which has been extended to five years from one.
The agreement foresees US Armed Forces operating and training at military bases in Volos, Alexandroupolis, Litochoro and Souda Bay.
“The specific agreement ceases to be a bilateral banksnewscol and becomes a vote of confidence in Greece as an unshakeable factor for stability, as a prudent European and NATO partner that guarantees international legality in the face of any crises stirred by our neighbors. Of a crucial hub on the energy map”.
Honored to meet with @PrimeministerGR Mitsotakis ahead of his visit to Washington and meeting with @POTUS Biden. We discussed how the US and Greece can work together to strengthen our remarkable 🇺🇸🇬🇷 alliance promoting security and prosperity, building on our fantastic momentum. pic.twitter.com/fvdlmvn6eT
— George J. Tsunis (@USAmbassadorGR) May 12, 2022
The main opposition party, the leftist Syriza, opposed the agreement, arguing that it didn’t provide Athens with sufficient security guarantees.
Earlier Thursday, protesters from the Greek Communist Party unfurled banners at the ancient Acropolis against the military deal. The banners, in Greek and English, read “No to war. No to the bases of death.”