A strategic hub, but also part of humanitarian plans
Greece’s geographic location and mature foreign policy have allowed the country to develop into a crucial military and energy hub.
The use of facilities in the ports of Souda Bay and Alexandroupoli are a major part of US planning in dealing with the two major wars going on, in the Middle East and in Ukraine.
At the same time, Athens, along with Nicosia, can act as part of a potential humanitarian corridor to deal with the dramatic situation in the Gaza Strip.
The effort has begun. In cooperation with the Egyptian authorities, on Monday a Greek airplane with pharmaceutical and medical supplies destined for the civilians of the Gaza Strip, flew to Cairo.
Calls for a permanent ceasefire seem unattainable at the moment, but Greece, as Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis noted to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a phone conversation on Monday, is increasingly worried about the protection of civilians in Gaza and emphasizes the need for humanitarian pauses and continuous aid to Gaza.
This call comes in parallel with the condemnation of the Hamas terrorist attack and the recognition of Israel’s right to self-defense.
On Sunday, Secretary Blinken made an unannounced visit to Cyprus, where he talked with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, among other issues, about a maritime corridor for a sustained flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, something also supported by the EU Commission, which is the largest donor of aid to the Palestinians.
As a close friend of Israel and a credible partner of the Arab world, as well as a member of the EU that is located close to the conflict, Greece is an integral part of the equation and can only prove useful in so many ways.
Prime Minister Mitsotakis, who recently visited his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and spoke on the phone with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, has signaled Greece’s willingness and desire to have a constructive input.
Greece’s consistency, for many years now, has increased its credibility and has allowed it to become a strategic player in the region; now this is being reinforced in one of the most critical periods in recent decades.
