US Elections: How Athens is preparing for a Harris presidency or a Trump return

It’s not just Americans who are currently, the day before the US election season draws the curtain, anxious about the day ahead. In the same fate are Europeans who are watching a highly contested battle with…existential angst, as many are anticipating that a new victory for Donald Trump will mean a weakening of NATO, possibly economic tariffs on European products, and in any case a downgrading of Euro-Atlantic cooperation. Of course, a victory for the geopolitically inexperienced Kamala Harris will not automatically mean the preservation of the status quo, as analysts believe she will turn her attention in private to what is happening in Asia.

Anxieties and concerns are also registered in Athens. Government sources, however, tend to de-emphasize the situation, stressing that now the US-Greece relationship is strategic and strategic relationships are not reversed overnight. “Besides, the upgrading of Greek-American defense cooperation and the strategic approach was completed under the Republican administration,” a senior government source tells protothema.gr.

The “devil you know”

In any case, and despite Vice President Harris’ differences with President Biden on a range of policy approaches, for Athens, she remains “the devil you know.” Mitsotakis is more compatible as a political profile with the Democratic vice president, with whom he first met at the Munich Security Conference. At the time, Ms. Harris had made a surprise appearance by raising the issue of Greek judicial obstruction in the punishment of Bakari Henderson, who had been killed in Zakynthos. A few months after that first meeting, Ms. Harris was present with the then Speaker of the House of Representatives when Kyriakos Mitsotakis delivered his historic speech from the floor of Congress, drawing applause from both political wings.

However, if Kamala Harris is elected, the staffing of the government and her close staff will be critical. For the position of national security adviser, the current adviser to Philip Gordon, who is considered diplomatically experienced and has served as undersecretary of state for European affairs during Hillary Clinton’s days in the Obama administration, is being strongly considered.

Congress

At the same time, knowledgeable sources with behind-the-scenes knowledge point out that the relationship between the US and Greece remains “deep” and “institutional,” regardless of who sits in the Oval Office. One of the explanations is also attributed to the good relations that Greece has developed, with the help of the Greek lobby in recent years, with members of the Congress, both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Indeed, just recently Mitsotakis hosted Republican senators for a working breakfast at his home in Chania, along with Defense Minister Nikos Dendias and U.S. Ambassador George Tsounis.
Nikos Dionis, President Nicolas Dionis and the US Secretary of State George H.G. Tsiolkovsky.

Trump’s “unknowns”

The case of Trump‘s re-election, however, will serve as a test for Europe as a whole, which may find itself immediately faced with the need to make bold decisions regarding defense strategy. For Mitsotakis, this is not necessarily a negative, as he has long argued for this need. Beyond that, a problem that the Greek government will also face is that the people surrounding Donald Trump are now very different from his previous term, and if he wins, he will be “unchecked” by the institutional arms of the Republicans.

In any case, Athens is preparing, and government sources recall that decisions were made under Trump that did not favor Turkey, such as pulling out of the F-35 program, regardless of Trump-Erdogan personal chemistry. Mitsotakis recently saw former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Athens, who is rumored to have a role as a national security adviser or defense secretary in the Trump administration. From there, behind-the-scenes communication channels are also being developed by Deputy Foreign Minister Alexandra Papadopoulou, who had a strong network of contacts during her time as ambassador to Washington.

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