Greece’s Syriza government led by prime minister Alexis Tsipras were— like many in Europe— banking on a victory for Hillary Clinton, who in her pre-election statement on Greek matters voiced her support for some form of debt relief for Greece.
With the historic victory of Donald Trump, the government has tried to settle concerns inside the country that much— if anything— will change, with regards to the significant role the United States plays in Greece.
“The significance that the US plays on Greece does not change,” a government source was quoted by local media as saying Wednesday, and reported in Kathimerini.
But one thing that may change— which must be of concern to the Greek government— is the emphasis the United States has placed on debt relief for Greece. In fact, the topic was considered to be one of the main points President Barack Obama was planning to address during a landmark speech in Greece on November 15.
Donald Trump as a candidate didn’t say much about Greece but he did suggest to Fox Business News’ Maria Bartiromo that he wouldn’t be as involved as the Obama Administration was, sending Treasury Secretary Jack Lew on numerous visit to Athens and pressing Greece’s European partners into considering some form of debt relief for the ailing economy.
“Well I would stay back a little bit,” Trump said about getting involved with Greece. “I wouldn’t get too involved. We get too involved with too many other things. I would definitely stay back.”
“Frankly, Putin probably comes in to save the day, if Germany doesn’t,” Trump said, adding that ultimately he believes that Greece “is going to be better shape than people think.”
But not under a Trump Administration, he warned back then. “The United States cannot be in every fight,” Trump concluded in the July 2015 interview.
One wild card in the mix is a Trump foreign policy advisor named George Papadopoulos— whose parents were from Greece— and who may have some influence on the Trump Administration.
Papadopoulos is a 2009 graduate of DePaul University and directs an international energy center at the London Center of International Law Practice.
He has written about the role of Greece, Cyprus and Israel and the importance of a collaboration regarding the natural gas field that was found in the region and has even suggested that the three nations avoid dealing with Turkey at all costs.
In other news from Greece, the Neo-Nazi Golden Dawn Party hailed the Trump victory as a “victory against illegal immigration” and in favor of ethnically “clean” nations.
“This was a victory for the forces which oppose globalization, are fighting illegal migration and are in favor of clean ethnic states, in favor of self-sufficiency in the national economy,” a spokesman of the party said in a post on YouTube.
