[ALBSA-Info] BBC on Greece's foreign policy changes

[Agron Alibali]

Thursday, 7 February, 2002, 19:09 GMT
Analysis: Greece abandons Milosevic
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_1807000/1807427.stm

Greeks sided with Milosevic during the Nato bombing

By Daniel Howden in Athens
Greece's decision to open bank accounts believed to be connected to
Slobodan Milosevic shows that the country's foreign policy has been 
growing
ever closer to that of its Nato and European Union partners in the past 
few
years.

At the height of the Nato bombing campaign against Milosevic's regime 
in
Belgrade in 1999, the US embassy in Athens was practically besieged by
daily demonstrations in support of the Serbian leader.



The sooner things come out in the open the better

Greek Foreign Ministry official
Thousands marched in the capital and the northern port city of 
Thessaloniki
to show their solidarity for their fellow Orthodox Christians. Football
team AEK Athens even played a friendly with Partizan Belgrade wearing 
mock
targets on their backs.

The Greek Government was consistently attacked on the domestic front 
for
its decision to give logistical support to its allies in the campaign,
despite a refusal to play any direct military role.

The Greek daily, To Vima, was the first to report the opening of the
accounts on Wednesday. A leader article on Thursday attacked the 
"so-called
ideologists" of the time in Greece who mustered support for a 
"Stalinist
regime" under the simplified banner: "We are Orthodox, as they are, and
therefore we are brothers, especially when under attack."

Far from attracting public criticism, the Justice Ministry's decision 
to
offer full co-operation to the international war crimes tribunal has 
been
broadly welcomed in Greece as an opportunity to wash some dirty linen 
in
public.

"It is a strong, tangible indicator of the type of changes underway in
Greek policy," a senior Greek Foreign Ministry source told the BBC. "If
links do emerge then they should be clarified and the sooner things 
come
out in the open the better, so that this can be put behind us."

Dirty money

Greek bank accounts are alleged to contain millions of dollars 
illegally
obtained during Milosevic's term as Yugoslav president.

The decision to open them - at the tribunal's request - could have 
serious
implications for many Greek citizens and companies with links to the 
former
Belgrade regime.

"This is part of an ongoing clean-up of... the presence in or use of 
Greece
by Milosevic and his cronies as a place to deposit or launder their 
money,"
said the source.

While a strong current of anti-Americanism re-surfaced in the wake of 
the
11 September terror attacks, there is growing support for a flexible 
and
progressive approach to foreign relations.

Milosevic is believed to have laundered money in Greek banks


"We are pushing on an open door," the Foreign Ministry source insisted.
"There is an increasingly pragmatic population in Greece who recognise 
that
the time has come to move on."

One of the clearest indicators of Greek public support for pro-Western
positions is the current popularity of reformist Foreign Minister 
George
Papandreou, who has consistently topped polls as favourite to take over
from current Prime Minister Costas Simitis.

Mr Papandreou is about to enter talks with Turkish counterpart Ismael 
Cem,
which many observers are optimistic could deliver real progress on a 
number
of historic differences between the two countries including Cyprus and
territorial claims in the Aegean.



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