How close is Greece to Ukraine?
Putin and Erdogan are writing the handbook of modern revisionism and threatening neighboring states and the West. THE Vladimir Putin stigmatized by the night of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the USSR, it wants to give Russia its lost prestige. It continues the Soviet tradition of misinformation, with the farms of Russian trolls, the organized attempts to intervene in the public sphere and in elections of Western states, the spread of the influence of the Russian Patriarchate to Christian Orthodox around the world. He tools the Russian passports, the separatist movements he raised, the gas prices, the trade relations with the neighboring states. In the narrative of Russian foreign policy “Ukraine is a state that does not exist”, as he said in 2008. It should belong exclusively to Russia’s sphere of interests, loathe the West and everything Western, and assist Mother Moscow in trying to make Russia great again. Recognition of Donetsk and Luhansk and the projection or use of brute force is the answer to Ukraine’s western course.
THE Tayyip Erdogan preserves the narrative of the Blue Homeland and promotes the demand for demilitarization of the Greek Islands. Embraced by the doctrine of neo-Ottomanism, it seeks to make Turkey a regional ruler. It has instrumentalized refugees and immigrants, while Turkish propaganda mechanisms seek to weaken the image of Greece abroad with false news. Annoyed by the upgrading of the regime of Greece and Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean, it is building bridges in the states of the region in order to stop the efforts of external strengthening of our country and the Republic of Cyprus. It hardens its stance on the Cyprus issue, making any negotiation for a solution virtually impossible, seeking a path to a de facto solution. He appears as the protector of the ubiquitous Muslim population and is disgusted, like Putin, with the West and the Republic. Watching Putin, the question is how far will Erdogan go? The attitude of the West towards Russia and every effort of revisionism but also the strength of our country are decisive factors for the above.
Greece has entered a trajectory of internal and external empowerment. The armament of the program strengthens its deterrent power. The armed forces are proving to be the “heavy paper” of Greek Foreign Policy and Defense, not only at the operational level, but also at the diplomatic level. Internal empowerment must be comprehensive, aiming at the economy, the mindset, trust in the state, education, social cohesion. As we do not forget that misinformation campaigns find ground in citizens who believe that they are marginalized by economic and social processes. Leading Realist Hans Morgenthau reminds us: “Any part of the population that feels deprived of only its rights and full participation in the life of a nation that has no lower national mindset is no less ‘patriotic’.”
As far as the external strengthening of the country is concerned, despite the impressive course lately, it is necessary to be careful in at least three points. First, joining an alliance or signing an agreement does not necessarily work automatically, even if it is provided for. No one will help you if you do not help yourself. It is necessary to produce value for ourselves and others, in order to be accountable. Secondly, our cooperation in the Eastern Mediterranean is important, but it is still in its infancy and therefore characterized by liquidity, while being targeted by Turkey. We need to seek to increase the interdependence between the states of the region, which will give us a comparative advantage. Third, Putin and Erdogan may have something in common, but Greece is different from Ukraine. Our country has a strong deterrent effect and is a member of the Euro-Atlantic institutions. It has mechanisms of hard and gentle balancing of the Turkish threat that are necessary to be vigilant at all times and to be so effective.
* Rebecca Paidi is an Associate Professor in the Department of International and European Studies at the University of Macedonia