Mistrust
…The mistrust of the political elite toward the military is one of the lingering repercussions of the military coup in the country. The peculiar discrediting of the military, which is expressed in various ways, is a consequence of this mistrust… Promotions may not be an expression of this discrediting; this, however, is one thing while their being decided (with or without a list) by the minister is quite another. Like many similar phenomena, the military often finds itself discredited in countries with unstable democracies, shaky foreign relations, and poor economic growth. Greece was in this class of states until recently; not even a generation has passed since the period of the dictatorship that ended in the early 1970s. But a great deal has been achieved in these years. And the country has finally entered the hard core of the developed world, although without enjoying the security of all our European Union partners. And here comes the major paradox: In all these countries – with which Greece has ever-stronger ties and which are under no outside threat whatsoever – the status of the military is very high. But in Greece, which does face outside threats, it is not. And it is in this sense, finally, that one would never expect the European-minded Yiannos Papantoniou to handle such an issue in such a way. If nothing else, he should recall that the Imia crisis took place only six years ago.
