Eddy Zemenidis, Executive Director of the Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC), solicited Eddy Zemenidis, Executive Director of the Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC) yesterday while speaking online at 1st East Macedonia. & Thrace Forum, organized by Olympia Forum in collaboration with Alexandroupoli Municipality, Energizing Greece and Hellas Journal.

In the section titled “US-Greece Strategic Partnership and Its Impact on Greece’s Path to Stability”, Mr. Zemenidis asked for an assessment of the bilateral relations between Greece and the US that, although they are moving in the right direction, it is necessary to accelerate the pace of development of such processes. like the aforementioned cabinet.

According to him, he understands that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has changed a lot, as well as the elections in Israel and Cyprus, however, “3 plus 1” should have already done. “There is something very definite that Greece has shown over and over again to the two (US) administrations that it plays a huge role in the region and is a reliable partner, there is no doubt about that anymore. America must now show that it is a reliable ally. I want a date for 3 plus 1,” he said characteristically, stressing that this quadripartite meeting should take place as soon as possible, at the ministerial level, so that Turkey also gets the message.

Mr. Zemenidis also recalled that during Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ first trip to the US in 2019, when Trump was still president, “Menendez hosted a dinner with (Jim) Rees and 12 senators came and sat down with the prime minister.” . Minister of Greece, and at the end he printed the bill of the Eastern Mediterranean and gave it to him, stating with this gift, as he described it, that the most important partner country in the Eastern Mediterranean region is Greece. Finally, Mr. Zemenidis urged Greeks to develop relations in the US and to represent Greek positions also in American universities, and not just in forums.

Greek American Defense Alliance and the Role of the ODA

Nikolaos Catsimbras, HALC board member and lecturer at Columbia University, mentioned defense cooperation between Greece and the US, as well as alliances between the two countries’ defense industries. He recalled that last year a decision was made on the presence of an American aircraft carrier in the Eastern Mediterranean, which is extremely important for Greece, since, among other things, it further increases the importance of the Court. And this is because the Americans have stressed many times that Suda is the only port in the region where an aircraft carrier can moor, fully serving its needs.

Secondly, for the first time, American exercises that left Souda went to LRI Cyprus, and thirdly, the American defense industry Lockheed Martin (LM) cooperates with the Greek defense industry (EAB), and not just for Greek defense equipment. In particular, ODA, together with companies from Israel, the Netherlands, Korea and Denmark, is a subcontractor and produces F-16 parts for LM orders for other “players” (among other things, an air duct, a fuel tank behind the captain’s seat and part of the fuselage). “This joint production is very important, also because all the countries that cooperate are democracies. “None of them is an authoritarian regime and has no tendency to do so,” he stressed.

His long-term relationship with Senator Bob Menendez was mentioned by Vice President of the Federation of American Cypriot Organizations Thasos Zambas, a man who is credited with the American official’s philhellenic sensibilities, according to debate moderator Athanasios Ellis.

Bosphorus Bypass and Egnatia Railway

ND MP Evripides Stylianides referred to Turkey’s policy towards the Bosphorus and the fact that for the first time in history they were bypassed. “You understand that this bypass of the Bosphorus is being reinforced by the American military presence in Alexandroupolis. In fact, for the first time the bypass of the Bosporus is in operation, which must be strengthened with the completion of the construction of the Egnatian railway from Thessaloniki, Kavala to Alexandroupolis and from Alexandroupolis and Ormenio to the north of the Balkans and Europe,” he said.

He added that Greece is pursuing a different strategy, trying to activate alternative forms, sources and routes of energy through projects such as the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), the Greece-Bulgaria Interconnection Pipeline (IGB), FSRUE in Alexandroupoli and gas storages in areas such as Kavala. . All this, he added, has created a new road not only by land but also by sea to Europe, the Balkans and Central Europe, which now transports energy from 18 different markets except Russia and supplies more than 14 million households in Europe. . wider region.