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Jeff—Saturday

It’s been one heck of a week…make that ten days.   Bristol UK and CrimeFest were terrific.  Seeing old friends and hearing of constructive efforts underway to make sure this was NOT CrimeFest’s final hurrah buoyed up the spirits of us longtime fans and supporters.

Bristol

Then it was on to London for a meeting with my publisher, editor, and assistant editor. Talk about buoying up sprits.  I’m one lucky fella to have folk like that on my team. 

Then it was a few days wandering around the shops, museums, shops, restaurants, shops and sights that make London so seductive. 

London Ladies

Then it was on to Athens (via a traditional Heathrow experience), until finally making it back home to Mykonos.

WOW AND YIPPEE, we’re back home.

All that left me dead to the world, and scurrying to find a topic to address in today’s blog.  Then I found it—an opinion piece in Ekathimeri by Tom Ellis, its English-language edition’s editor-in-chief.  

It lends perspective from a venue at the very heart of the machinations of the world’s superpowers—both actual and prospective—that play out non-stop in American media.  I hope you find it interesting, if not instructive:

Piraeus

Greece and its Ports.

As a result of its prime location, which makes it a natural gateway to the European markets in the Eastern Mediterranean, and conflicting interests, stemming from diplomatic alliances on the one front, and commercial partnerships on the other, Greece finds itself at the center of a complex regional puzzle with geopolitical dimensions.

Among its many critical pieces the ports of Piraeus, the country’s largest, as well as Thessaloniki and Alexandroupoli, stand out.

It comes as no surprise that the US is not thrilled with the fact that one of the largest ports in the Mediterranean in terms of throughput, is controlled by the Chinese.

Washington will try to minimize Beijing’s influence in Piraeus, while making a concerted effort to bring the other two of Greece’s major ports under American control.

Thessaloniki, especially, is seen through the wider geopolitical prism of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) for which there is growing interest in the US Congress. In this context the potential closure of the US Consulate in the city is not helping the whole planning.

Athens’ strategic cooperation with New Delhi – and the joint project which includes Cyprus and Israel among other countries – has an additional regional dimension given the traditional tensions between India and Pakistan, the latter being supported by Turkey.

The pressure from different global players is heavy and it will become even more so in the near future, while the present geopolitical volatility and unpredictability make the already complex equation even more difficult to solve.

The Port of Piraeus is operating normally despite a US decision, a few months ago, to blacklist its majority owner, COSCO, after the US Defense Department declared that the latter, China’s largest shipping group, worked with China’s military. 

COSCO, one of the world’s largest shipping groups, stated that none of its units on the list is a military company. The US blacklisting had alarmed Greece given Piraeus’ pivotal commercial role.

Meanwhile, the Greek government is putting pressure on the Chinese side to make the necessary development and infrastructure improvements in the Port of Piraeus it had committed to. The issue was discussed at a meeting last week between newly appointed Shipping Minister Vassilis Kikilias and Chinese Ambassador to Greece Fang Qiu, with the latter noting Beijing’s interest in deepening and expanding the bilateral cooperation in Piraeus and beyond.

One thing is becoming clear: In the months ahead, Greece’s ports will be at the forefront of a wider geopolitical race for control and influence between major players with conflicting goals. 

––Jeff