The SYRIZA-ANEL coalition government is stably oriented towards supporting the imperialist plans of NATO, both in the Aegean and also in the wider region of the Middle East. It actively supports the naval force (SNMG2) which the predatory alliance is deploying in the Aegean, with the refugee issue as its pretext, but in reality with its eyes on Syria.
The SYRIZA-ANEL government seems to be willing to make every port available for the refueling of the NATO ships. We have already seen requests from the SNMG2 to refuel in Irakleio and Chania and the Greek government has also proposed in this first phase that it use the ports of Leros and Limnos.
At the same time, Turkey is expressing its objections to NATO's operational plans, putting forward all the well-known claims of the Turkish bourgeoisie in the Aegean, such as the demilitarization of the Greek islands, the non-recognition of Greece's right to carry out search and rescue operations in extensive areas of the Aegean etc. This fact refutes all the arguments of the Greek government that the NATO agreement allegedly safeguards "the sovereign rights of the country"...
Meanwhile, during a discussion in the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament with the GS of NATO, J.Stoltenberg, there was an intervention by Kostas Papadakis, MEP of the KKE, who denounced the enhanced presence of NATO, with as its pretext the refugee problem, in the Aegean, and the dangers that this entails.
The MEP of the KKE stressed the following in his intervention:
"The refugee issue is a problem that was created and is being intensified by your imperialist wars of NATO the USA and the EU against your competitors in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya. Today, as a result of this situation and the political line of the EU, thousands of desperate refugees are being trapped in a mass way in Greece.
With the refugee issue as its pretext, the enhanced NATO presence in the Aegean with a naval force, with the agreement of the Greek government as well, is connected to the sharpening competition in the wider region of the Middle East.
It is a given that NATO does not recognize borders amongst its member-states, in essence it reinforces the dangerous designs of the Turkish bourgeoisie for the "greying" of the Aegean. This is borne out by the fact that NATO and also the EU not only do not say anything about the systematic Turkish violations of Greek airspace and territorial waters, but in fact provide immunity for them.
So, what is the real goal behind such an expanded NATO presence in the Aegean?" was the question posed by the MEP of the KKE, to which, of course, he did not receive an honest answer from the GS of NATO.
24.02.2016