Greece's Rising Role In The Eastern Mediterranean

12/20/2023 2:11:10 AM

(MENAFN- Asia Times) With wars to its east and to its north, Greece has taken on a new geostrategic significance in the Eastern Mediterranean. The country has become a staging point for the Western alliance but also, equally important, a credible partner in the region.

This new status is a remarkable come-back story for a country that was ground zero in a complicated European financial crisis only a decade earlier.

First with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and now with the Israel-Gaza War, Greece is serving as a conduit for men and materiel for the US and other NATO allies. It is becoming a vital link in energy supply chains for the region. And it is increasingly seen as a safe haven destination.

Greece's emerging role also underscores an evolving security architecture in the Eastern Mediterranean that has quietly taken place over the past decade.

Since at least 2010, Athens has developed multiple and overlapping defense and commercial ties with Cyprus, Israel and Egypt, as well as with the UAE and Saudi Arabia. It has cultivated ever closer cooperation with the US, which has been supportive of this new Eastern Mediterranean alliance, as America's relations with Turkey – its erstwhile ally in the region – have frayed.

These days, the northern Greek port of Alexandroupolis has become a hub to supply NATO members Bulgaria and Romania, while the island of Crete is supporting US military operations in the Middle East and North Africa.

Greece is proceeding with a US$13 billion defense modernization program and has deepened its military cooperation with each of its regional partners through joint exercises and bilateral exchanges.

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