GREECE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90G01353R001500230071-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 4, 2013
• Sequence Number: 71
• Publication Date: January 1, 1988
• Content Type: MISC

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/09/11: CIA-RDP90G01353R001500230071-7 5x1
----.121.6A41E4
?
?
GREECE
Socialist Prime Minister Papandreou rode to power in 1981 as a
self-styled champion of the "non-privileged," and of a more independent
foreign policy. He called for change and offered simplistic solutions to
complex problems, but his actions in office have usually been more
temperate.
o Although he pledged to remove US bases from Greek soil and withdraw
Greece from the EC because of an alleged US tilt toward Turkey and
fear of EC economic domination, he reached an agreement on
continued US basing and Greece remains an active EC member.
o His early economic policies promised radical Socialist solutions, but
have since been supplanted with austerity and fiscal restraint.
With new elections required by June 1989, Papandreou's government has
clearly lost much of its appeal while the opposition has regained its
momentum.
o The Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) currently is running neck
and neck in the polls with its principal adversary, the conservative
New Democracy (ND).
o ND has been unable to turn its improved standing into a "government
in waiting" image, however, because it offers no solutions to Greek
problems and ND leader Mitsotakis is less popular than Papandreou.
Relations with the United States are sometimes strained when Papandreou
plays to Greek nationalism.
'o In the base talks currently under way, for example, he must reconcile
any new agreement with his public commitment to remove the four main
US bases.
o We believe that Papandreou intends to reach an agreement for the
continuing presence of the US bases--in large part by portraying
them as protection against Turkey--but that negotiations will be
protracted until he decides how to play them in an election
scenario.
o Recent threats to close the US airbase at Hellenikon, however, could
box Papandreou into closing Hellenikon and refusing to transfer its
functions elsewhere in Greece, especially if his party appears
headed for electoral defeat.
Greek anti-terrorist policy--also a source of friction--derives partly
from leftist sympathy for "liberation movements" and partly from its
25X1
25X1
25X1
25X1
Imo Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/09/11: CIA-RDP90G01353R001500230071-7
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/09/11: CIA-RDP90G01353R001500230071-7
-
?
?
SECRET
geographic proximity to the Middle East and relatively large resident Arab
population which make Greece particularly vulnerable to terrorist
reprisals.
o The recent assassination of the US Defense Attache and the attack
against a Greek tourist ship threaten Greece's vital tourist
industry, and may prompt Athens to toughen its stand against
terrorism.
Greece is particularly sensitive about the triangular relationship
between Athens, Ankara, and Washington.
o Despite this year's warming trend between Papandreou and Turkish
Prime ,Minister Ozal, Greeks of all political persuasions believe
Turkey poses their greatest security threat because of Greek-Turkish
disputes over Cyprus and Aegean rights.
o Until recently, the military balance in the Aegean between Greece and
Turkey had remained relatively even, and Greece insists that US
security assistance be maintained at the current 7:10 ratio in the
ongoing base talks to avoid upsetting the balance in Turkey's favor.
Athens also insists on a US security guarantee, but we believe that
the Greeks will ultimately settle for something less than formal
commitments on both, regardless of which party is in power.
25X1
25X1
25X1
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/09/11: CIA-RDP90G01353R001500230071-7