ATHENS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd November, 2021) The United States under the new Greek-American agreement on defense cooperation gains an extremely important base in Alexandroupoli, which becomes their bridgehead for anti-Russian policy, the leader of the party "Greece - The Other Way", former MEP Notis Marias told Sputnik on Tuesday.
The United States and Greece on October 14 signed an amendment to their existing mutual defense agreement that allows US forces to train and operate from additional locations inside Greece.
"Under the agreement, the United States acquires an extremely important base in Alexandroupoli. Thus, the port of Alexandroupoli turns into a springboard for the United States to conduct its anti-Russian policy in the region of Southeastern Europe. Through the port of Alexandroupoli, US and NATO military forces can now freely move to Bulgaria, Romania, and then to Ukraine and strengthen its forces in the soft underbelly of Russia," Marias said.
The politician noted that the Greek-American agreement on defense, despite the promises made by Washington, does not contain a clause on military assistance in the event of an attack on Greece by Turkey.
"On the contrary, the US acquires huge military facilities and military bases in Greece without providing anything in return. The most important base is, of course, the naval base of Crete, Souda, which is the only base in the Mediterranean that can host huge American aircraft carriers, while its geographic location makes it a strategically important base in the Eastern Mediterranean region," Marias said.
In addition, the United States, in addition to military bases in Crete and Evros, acquires bases in Litochoro and Volos. According to Marias, the 5-year agreement could turn into one with unlimited terms of action.
This is the second renewed agreement for mutual military cooperation for three years - the previous one was signed in October 2019. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece said that the agreement strengthens the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country.
