The Greeks' Persistent Anti-Americanism
AIM Athens, 2.12.1999
"Criminal, pervert, murderer, imposter, blood-thirsty, gangster, slayer, naive, criminal, butcher, stupid, killer, foolish, unscrupulous, disgraceful, dishonest, rascal. These are some of the adjectives I found in the Greek media of the last few days about the US President," wrote writer Nikos Dimou in his weekly column in "Ethnos" (14/11/1999). He had not seen the following quote of another columnist, Nikos Vardiambasis ("Eleftherotypia" 13/11): "Clinton is a miserable little Hitler that Adolph himself would not have made him even deputy commander of an army camp, because [Clinton] is stupid." No wonder then foreign diplomats and correspondents in Athens were saying that "Athens is the most anti-American European capital" ("Ta Nea" 20/11).
Is that anti-Americanism new or resurgent? In the same weekly ("Ependytis" 20/11), two journalists disagreed. One spoke of a "recent anti-American climate that flared up in Greece after the undeclared war in Kosovo;" while the other argued that "only foolish or presumptuous people can be surprised by the extent of anti-American feelings in Greece, feelings that are traditionally very strong." In fact, Professor of International Relations and current Greek Ambassador to the Council of Europe Dimitris Constas made two, apparently contradictory, arguments. "The stereotypes of the early 1980s (when political statements and actions against the USA, lacked practical value but had major consequences to our relations with the at the time one of the two superpowers) persist today" he wrote in "Eleftherotypia" (11/11); "an effusion of an -unprecedented at least in the 1990s- anti-Americanism" he commented in "Ta Nea" (27/11).
A careful analysis of Greek public opinion trends would show that a deep-rooted anti-Western and anti-American sentiment has traditionally prevailed. It has been substantial both on the right, influenced by the Orthodox-based, hence anti-Catholic and consequently anti-Western, traditional Greek culture; and on the left, for which the West had always symbolized imperialism and capitalism. In the late 1980s, these attitudes appeared on the wane, as communism was eroding and the PASOK socialist government had come to admit that Greece's interests lied with the West. Even then, though, public opinion analysts were warning that anti-Westernism was dormant rather than eliminated.
The Balkan crisis that followed the collapse of the old "world order" triggered the reawakening of nationalism in Greece (as in many other Balkan countries), especially because most politicians played up latent traditional fears among Greeks of irredentist threats by Greece's neighbors; while some went as far as reviving equally latent Greek irredentist claims against its neighbors. American and European policies were perceived as not fully satisfactory to Greek positions; worse, they were also thought as emphasizing human and minority rights at the expense of imajorities and stability. So, rather than adapting their views to the needs of a new, more open, world order, Greeks (like Serbs) opted to turn against the "new crusaders."
A front page column of the "Kathimerini" English language insert to the "Interntaional Herald Tribune"'s Athens edition (Costas Iordanidis, 15/11) was eloquent: "Implementing the American model in the case of the Balkans means implementing 'democracy and tolerance of different ethnic and religious groups' in a new order. The fact that this model is capable of destabilizing specific state entities does not appear to bother Washington." After all, the newspaper's newly promoted editor-in-chief of its international news section, George Kapopoulos, was arguing that "in the name of a rapprochement with the West, the current governments in FYROM, Romania, and Bulgaria, have adopted a 'submissive' attitude towards irredentist-minority threats. While the rapprochement -with NATO and EU doors closed- remains questionable, the cost of concessions will be very high for the current leaderships" (2/11). For him, the existence of minorities is tantamount today to the presence of "minority and nationalist irredentism" in Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria (7/11). He is certain that "around 2015, the Albanian element will be a majority in Skopje" [meaning of course Macedonia, not just its capital] which will threaten the country's "stability and integrity" and, in turn, the region's "status quo as shaped with the Treaty of Bucharest in 1913" (2/11).
It is in the same paper though that a very lucid analysis was also written. "While we consider as strategic target Greece's integration of the EMU and the West; while we are allies of the US and NATO members; (...) we give the impression at the same time to be opposed to the West, its values and its choices. The leading role in the development of such attitude is played by a broad, apparently disparate, 'alliance' that has recently emerged between the henceforth vehemently nationalist KKE, the fanatic Orthodox reinforced by Christodoulos' election as Archbishop, and the nationalist circles in the two major parties. The old right-wingers, for example, speak the same language with the communists" (Yannis Loverdos 14/11).
Under such circumstances, "the rapid development of a diffused anti-Americanism that is not based on specific issues nor does it have specific demands, and that leads to all kinds of reactions is a negative symptom" wrote Christina Poulidou in "Avghi" (14/11). How widespread is that phenomenon? Former conservative New Democracy (ND) minister and now independent deputy Vasilis Kontogiannopoulos wrote that "the outdated ideological reflexes of the Left meet with the nationalist reflexes of the populist Right in an extremist and leveling anti-Americanism which keeps Greece hostage" ("Ta Nea" 13/11). Prime Minister Costas Simitis even said: "I am sorry that ( ) ND is an anti-American, anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist party or movement" ("Avghi" 12/11).
Indeed, the largest pro-ND newspaper "Eleftheros Typos," in an editorial (14/11), accused the Greek government of "submissiveness" and the US of engaging in the "national humiliation" of Greece. THis debate took place as US President Bill Clinton was to visit Greece: a trip initially sched led for 13-15 November, postponed for a week and shortened to 24 hours (19-20/11), partly because of an avalanche of negative reactions and planned demonstrations. "Demonstrations for the people to express their displeasure with the New World Order, and with the subservience that plagues not only the Greek but all European governments; ( ) displeasure with government policy and, especially, with some subservient journalists, from both Greece and the West, who are ruthless murderers of human dignity." These harsh words were written by George Stamatopoulos, a journalist in "Eleftherotypia" (19/11), who thus showed little respect even for his colleagues with views different than his.
Leading PASOK politicians also voiced or made known strong reactions. Former Minister Stelios Papathemelis considered Clinton's visit "a useless trip [that] now becomes dangerous" ("Eleftheros Typos" 14/11). PASOK's youth, along with those of the communist KKE, the leftist Coalition, and the socialist splinter DIKKI, declared "the representative of American imperialist policy persona non grata in our country" ("To Vima" 15/11). Eleven personalities -including two former leading PASOK politicians (Manolis Glezos and Manolis Drettakis) and former Minister and current PASOK deputy Professor George Mangakis- issued a very strong statement ("Eleftheriotypia" 15/11). "We are exasperated even by the thought that the US President's presence will contaminate the sanctified -with the blood of sacrifice- soil of our motherland. We forbid him to set foot on Pnyka Hill -the temple of Democracy- and Parthenon - the temple of ineffable beauty. We regret that the Greek government ignores the feelings of the Greek people towards a murderer of people, ideals, values, beauty and life. We are happy to feel proud that once again the Greek people resists and fights against the charge of barbarism and will therefore be present in his mobilization against the visit of the lord of the planet."
It was finally reported, and never denied, that one of the top PASOK leaders and Minister of Environment and Public Works, Costas Laliotis, opposed Clinton's visit arguing it will lead to PASOK's losing the elections and opted to be absent for 'urgent business' in Salonica when he came during it. It was reminded that he is also notorious for his absence from all EU ministerial councils of his competence. Alexis Papachelas, in his related column, called him an "inward looking party apparatchik, remnant of the 1970s, unadaptable to the ever changing world" ("To Vima" 15/11).
Sadly for him, but not so surprising for Greek observers, Turkish minority deputy of the Coalition party Mustafa Mustafa voiced an equally primitive anti-Americanism. He allied himself with mainstream Greek politicians notorious for their hostility towards the Turkish minority and towards the US Department of State for reporting annually, among other things, on that minority's human rights problems. "Peoples have visions, hopes and values and do not need the values and the visions of the lord of the planet [common attribute of Clinton in the Greek debate]. The problem lies not with the person of the lord of the planet; but with the values and the visions that the US wants to impose on humanity" Mustafa said while marching to protest Clinton's visit ("Paratiritis" 22/11).
Visiting Athens on the eve of Clinton's trip, world-renowned sociologist Edgar Morin commented on the emerging reactions: "I am afraid that this is fundamental irrationalism. Greeks turn themselves on and steam themselves up every now and then over some issue, ( ) like the Macedonian issue, that incredible war hysteria without a war" ("Eleftherotypia" 25/11). One of Greece's major problems is, however, that many of its intellectuals who favor a cosmopolitan, secular Greece appear to pretend that anti-Americanism and anti-Westernism in Greece are marginal, hence negligible, phenomena. In a letter to the editor of "Washington Post" (13/11) Professors Ted Couloumbis and Thanos Veremis -respectively director general and president of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP), the country's main 'think tank'- argued that "admittedly, President Clinton's planned visit to Greece has caused a furor in the marginal (left-of-center) sector of Greek politics. These forces are represented by the Greek Communist Party (which enjoys about 6.5 percent of the popular vote) and a disgruntled offshoot party of PASOK, called the Democratic Socialist Movement ([DIKKI] representing about 6 percent of the national total). The rest of the parties in Parliament may differ -on some occasions- with U.S. and NATO decisions, such as the one to begin a bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, but in no way can they be referred to as anti-American and anti-European. In fact, public opinion surveys show the Greek people as reflecting one of the highest rates of approval regarding Greece's EU membership. ( ) It should be emphasized that the people in Greece who vocally oppose the president's visit are ( ) a mix of unreconstructed left-wingers, together with remnants of an extreme right-wing faction that still longs for the days (1967-74) when Greece was an 'authoritarian paradise."
It was, we believe convincingly, argued above that anti-Americanism and the reactions to Clinton's visit were much more widespread than these two academics claimed. While opinion polls showed that, before the visit, 61% of Greeks wanted its postponement vs. 24% who welcomed it; 12% had a positive opinion of Bill Clinton vs. 80% who had a negative opinion. "Ethnos" which published (8/11) that Greater Athens telephone poll (carried out by Alco between 3-5/11) interpreted these high negative percentages as anti-Americanism. There has been no other country in the world, especially the democratic one, where a visit of the US president created as much hostility as in Greece. Just like there is probably no other country where the Pope is declared persona non grata and cancels his visit plans, as happened with Greece in early September 1999. Greeks have recently seen on television the Pontiff's visits to officially communist Cuba, mainly Orthodox Romania, and mainly Hindu India. They apparently were unmoved and have remained proud to be the only country that "dares say no to Clinton and the Pope."
Many Greeks probably believe that, being descendents of Aristotle and Plato, they know better than the rest of humanity. In fact, after Clinton left, most of those voices that spoke against his visit, as they had sided with Milosevic and Ocalan before, found in the World Trade Organization late November summit in Seattle a new battleground. Because there, "who will 'prevail' is of utmost importance for the future of European Civilization; if some things are not accepted, the latter will not be able to survive." The threat was of course coming from the USA, whose drive for the liberalization of international trade would lead to "a production process based on children and slaves," where "the 'First' World attempts to copy 'Third' World production models, so as to secure a larger profit margin." "The USA wants a return to the Middle Ages" was the title "Eleftherotypia" chose for that interview (30/11) with Professor of Labor Law John Koukiadis, leading Eurodeputy of the governing PASOK party...
Panayote Elias Dimitras (AIM)
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