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“A historic sham”: Zelensky’s speech to Greece’s parliament sparks national outrage, opens WWII-era wounds

By inviting an Azov fighter to address Greece’s parliament, Zelensky opened the country’s historic wounds and triggered angry demonstrations that have shaken its pro-US government.
 
by TJ Coles
 
Part 8 - Anti-NATO protests and massive public opposition to arming Ukraine shake Greek government
 
In October 2021, Greece and the US amended their Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement to “deepen[] and expand[] on [their] partnership to maintain strong, capable, and interoperable militaries.” Soon after, Greek media reported: “A large number of helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles …, tanks, cannons, and artillery are expected to reach the Greek port near the border with Turkey in the weeks to come as part of an extensive military shipment that is of unprecedented scale.

From Bulgaria and the German-based 21st Theater Sustainment Command, the US sent by rail forty-four M117 Guardian Armored Safety Vehicles to Greece, which arrived in November. The “Safety” epithet is propaganda. Jane’s reports that the vehicles were to be fitted with machine guns. It was expected that over one thousand vehicles would be delivered by April, half of which are meant for the Greek military. We are left to assume that the other half will go to Ukraine. The arrival of the US Army one month prior brought total US forces in Europe to 100,000: “a number not seen since 2005,” says Stars and Stripes.

PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis of the ruling New Democracy, the old CIA favorite, recently authorized lethal military equipment to Ukraine, declaring to parliament: “There can be no equal distances. You are either with peace and international law, or against them”—“international law” meaning support for US-British violations of international law. But the rhetoric has fallen flat.

Despite a barrage of pro-NATO propaganda that has ensured that 75 percent of Greeks condemn Putin, 60 percent are also critical of Zelensky.

Citing opinion polls, cultural professor Nikos Marantzidis commented: “Greek public opinion has a Russophile dimension, friendly feelings linked to history, a common culture based on Orthodoxy and for some, mistrust towards the West.” Given the history, it’s not hard to understand the roots of the latter.

More recent Greek polls suggest that 66 percent to 29 percent oppose their government’s decision to send weapons to Ukraine. Further, an overwhelming majority of Greeks believe their country should maintain a neutral role in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

The decades of torture, both physical and psychological, inflicted on Greece by the US and its fascist and quasi-fascist, post-War partners have insulated a large sector of the Greek citizenry against NATO’s propaganda. Instead of making the public cower and internalize their imperial subjection, Greeks have retained their traditional anti-war mentality.

As Athens brushes aside Greek popular opinion to join NATO’s war party, some Greek citizens are taking direct action to signal their disgust and concern over being used as pawns in the great game of power rivalry.

This April 10, Thessaloniki-based rail workers at the TrainOSE company launched a strike to protest the transportation of US military vehicles. Workers and the 12 unions backing them wrote: “We will not become complicit in the passage of the war machine through the territories of our country.

With the popularity of PM Mitsotakis and his pro-US New Democracy party plunging since Zelensky’s speech, his government has reportedly announced a halt to arms shipments to Ukraine.

The US may be attempting an end-around by sourcing Russian-made weapons from Cyprus. Local media report: “Americans specifically asked for Cypriot anti-aircraft weapons, as well as attack helicopters.

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