Ambassador Mallias is leaving US with a ”Thank You” to the Greek-Americans

Ambassador Alexandros Mallias in an interview with Greek News he addresses the status of the Greek – US relations and the role of the community
Washington.- By Apostolos Zoupaniotis
After leading for almost 4 years the Greek diplomatic delegation to the United States, Ambassador Alexandros Mallias is returning to the Foreign Ministry as a senior advisor of FM Dora Bakoyianni, on Balkan issues. Ambassador Mallias who presented his credentials to President Bush, in October 2005, served in the United Stated during a tough period for the Greek – U.S. Relations. Despite statements of both sides praising the “strategic partnership” of the two countries, in reality the Bush administration was by far the worst administration for Greece.

A proponent of public diplomacy, Ambassador Mallias has made people-to-people diplomacy an integral part of his mission in the United States, reaching beyond the bounds of Washington politics. He traveled extensively throughout the United States, meeting with state officials and citizens, speaking at universities, colleges and think-tanks, not only on issues relating to Greece, but the broader Southeastern European region, to create links between the people of that region and the United States.

Alexandros P. Mallias was born on October 1, 1949. His family roots are from the high mountains of Arcadia (Stemnitsa).

In 1972, Alexandros Mallias obtained his B.Sc. in Economics from the Faculty of Economics, University of Athens. During the period 1972-1976, he studied Political Science at the University of Geneva and obtained a Post-Graduate Certificate from the “Institut des Hautes Etudes Europeennes”. He joined the Foreign Service in 1976.

In an interview with Greek News, Ambassador Mallias spoke about his experience serving in the United States, the status of Greek-US relations and the role of the Greek American Community.

THE INTERVIEW
Q: Ambassador, after almost four years as Greek Ambassador to the United States, you are leaving for Athens. Could you please briefly summarize your impressions, on the state of Greek-U.S. relations, to begin with?

A: First, let me just say on a personal note, also on behalf of my wife Francoise, my pillar of support, that these four years have been the most rewarding, both from a professional as well as a personal point of view. There is no greater honor than serving Greece, especially in the United States of America. When I was told that I would become Ambassador of Greece to the United States, I was deeply moved. I would like to publicly thank former Foreign Minister Petros Molyviatis, and Foreign Minister, Dora Bakoyannis, for the trust they placed in me and for their support. Since our arrival in Washington — I will use the plural form to include my wife — we tried to give the best of ourselves, to promote the relationship between the United States and Greece, to open the embassy with events, cultural events in particular, to the Greek-American community and the community at large. We tried the broadest public outreach possible. In fact, I have traveled to over 30 states around the country and have given over 140 public lectures at universities, think tanks and other organizations.

After four years, or almost four years, let me tell you the conclusions I have drawn. First of all, relations between Greece and the United States are as important to the United States as they are to Greece. This past February, I was very pleased to hear during talks which Minister Bakoyannis had with Secretary Clinton and National Security Advisor, General Jim Jones, here in Washington, about our two countriesʼ strategic partnership. This concept was reaffirmed in the talks between Prime Minister Karamanlis and President Obama, and most recently during talks between Minister of Defense Meimarakis with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and National Security Advisor General Jim Jones. There is a fresh interest on the part of the United States to work with Greece on a new array of issues of regional but also of global importance, like the security of sea lanes. This is certainly a positive thing.

Secondly, Greeceʼs greatest asset in the United States is the Hellenic American Community, starting with the Archdiocese, His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, and the organized associations.

I always try to challenge the belief that there is no Greek lobby in Washington. In an article on lobbying in the recent issue of “Foreign Affairs,” the Greek lobby is listed among the top four or five strongest in Washington, alongside the Israeli, Armenian, Irish lobbies. This is the general perception in Washington. I see no reason to question it. It is a fact that Greek-Americans, both as individuals and through associations, are passionate about promoting Greek-U.S. relations and the issues of Hellenism and Orthodoxy.

Thirdly, I would like to say that Greece enjoys unprecedented bipartisan support in Congress. Senate Resolution 300 and House Resolution 356 on FYROM are an indicative example of the energetic and proactive engagement.

Q: Letʼs start with U.S.-Greek relations. When they talk about strategic partnership, perhaps we feel like it is just empty words.

A: Well, both sides have reached the conclusion that time is ripe to move from words to action.

Q: I mean, why does the United States consider Greece a strategic partner? What does the U.S. have to gain?

A: Greece diachronically provides an added value in its broader region. For almost half a century, Greece was the only member of NATO in Southeastern Europe, and for over a quarter of a century, the only member of the European Union. It is obvious that our strategic vision to bring all Balkan countries, without exception, into the Euroatlantic structures was the right one. I can attest to Greeceʼs leadership on this from my personal experience through my extensive traveling with the Former President of the Republic, Kostis Stephanopoulos, and Foreign Minister Papoulias, in the mid 90ʼs (ʽ94, ʽ95, and ʽ96) to Bulgaria and Romania. I recall very clearly how strongly Greece defended the need for E.U. enlargement to include Bulgaria and Romania, saying that itʼs a must, that it would contribute not only to the interests of the European Union, but would also be a security provider for Romania and Bulgaria; it also matches Greek interests. This vision proved correct. Of course, today there are many countries which have joined NATO or are on the path of joining the European Union; but our big picture policy, to see the forest not the trees, proved to be pragmatic and visionary.

Greece has a significant arsenal of soft power and it chose to deploy it in the broader region of the Balkans, in the Caucasus and in the Middle East. You know that currently we are trying to find a solution to the question of the mandate of the OSCE mission in Georgia. Our good relations with Russia are now praised and considered a plus in our efforts. We had some initial successes in the earlier months of our OSCE presidency and we are working hard to get a consensual agreement. Let me emphasize that virtually on a daily basis, we receive very positive feedback from the Administration, Congress and the think-tank community on Greeceʼs leadership and for Dora Bakoyannisʼs efforts to this end.

Q: Ambassador, just for argumentʼs sake, how can a country that values you as a strategic partner backstab you, like the Bush administration did in 2004 on the Macedonia issue, and secondly when they tried to penalize Cyprus. Perhaps our strategic value is not that valuable after all, or was that particular administration problematic? and do we now have a better future?

A: I came to Washington, not as Ambassador but as envoy for Athens, just a few weeks after the unilateral recognition of FYROM. To me, it was clear that this decision of November 4, 2004 by the then Administration was not a wise one; besides undermining Greeceʼs interests, it rendered FYROMʼs leadership inflexible, arrogant and at times full of illusions. A political analysis of the impact of this unilateral decision (and unilateral reasoning was a trend in the last administration) will show that it provoked and undermined Greek-American relations and seriously jeopardized the relations between the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Greece. It also jeopardized NATOʼs credibility. How? Why? This was such an important decision concerning an ally, Greece; yet, the United States did not even think to consult with NATO before changing its policy overnight. So that is my response to the question of the name issue.

However, on the Cyprus question, I fully understand what you have in mind. You are not alone in this. The latest hearings before the Committee of Foreign Affairs of the House offered us all an opportunity to hear Secretary Clintonʼs views on the name issue, on Cyprus and on the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Her response on the name issue: “We understand Greek sensitivities” was missing in the past. Her position on Cyprus and the Ecumenical Patriarchate gave us a degree of satisfaction. Now, there is no time for complacency; we are working hard to fully brief the Administration, Congress and the think-tank community on our issues.

Q: So, is it the same thing with the visa?

A: On the visa-waiver program, for reasons that had nothing to do with Greeceʼs strong credentials to join the program a year ago, we were kept out in 2008. This had nothing to do with Greeceʼs ability to deliver. I donʼt want to go into details because we must now look to the future. Right now, today, we are engaged in intensive talks between Greece and the United States; I donʼt want to set artificial deadlines, because they might or might not be met; but with hard work on both sides, as well as the existing political will to conclude, we will be seeing the end of the tunnel sooner rather than later.

Q: Ambassador, speaking of the Cyprus Federation, you pointed out Turkeyʼs recent agreement with Armenia and how we should draw the right lessons from it. Could you elaborate a bit on this, and what the message might be, not only regarding the relations between various countries and various enemies, or former enemies, but also for the ethnic centers and the Diasporas?

A: Yes, the Diaspora, particularly the Hellenic Diaspora in the United States. I think I made myself clear earlier when I said that the Greek American community is the strongest catalyst for promoting Greek and Cypriot issues, as well as defending the rights of the Ecumenical Patriarchate here in the United States. On the Armenian-Turkish agreement you quoted me accurately; I said that we must draw the conclusion that when there are strong incentives, countries divided both by history and by current serious differences, or even conflict, can come to terms. We recently had here in Washington the President of Azerbaijan, the President of Armenia, Sergey Lavrov and the President of Kazakhstan. There is movement on the Caucasus, asking for our attention and we need to have very careful analysis. There is expectation that we will be seeing some type of settlement for the Nagorno-Karabakh; I prefer to hear that first. The lesson drawn from the Armenian-Turkish agreement, which the OSCE welcomes, is that you can get a deal if there are strong motivations and strong incentives.

On Turkey, the policy initiated by Greece 10 years ago at the Helsinki Summit, paving the way and opening the door for Turkey as a potential candidate for the European Union, had two parameters. The first was to secure that Cyprus becomes a member of the European Union – history in the making — even with 40% of its territory under Turkish occupation, even while having its natural resources depleted and its cultural and religious heritage looted. I think the European Union is a catalyst from a Greek perspective as well; itʼs a policy which says that if Turkey delivers, if it plays by the European Unionʼs book, and if it is willing to fulfill its obligations and commitments it willingly undertook four years ago on October 2005 in Luxembourg, it could then become a member of the European Union. Today, unfortunately we see some movements by Turkey that are not helpful. For us, this strategy is unequivocal – full compliance for full membership.

Q: You mentioned earlier the many cultural events the embassy organized; you opened up the doors; of course, you have the new building. If you were to have a little more time, what else would you want to see happening here, and how many more things would you like to see the embassy accomplish?

A: Well, first let me say that there are still many things that remain to be fixed. We tried to meet many of our targets. I was privileged to be surrounded by a team of skillful diplomats, advisors, defense attaché, administrative staff. It was a collective effort, because I am a strong believer in teamwork. If there are any shortfalls, however, I take full and complete responsibility.

Q: Of course, I am sure you have done it already, but any public advice to your friend and successor, Mr. Kaskarelis?

A: We all have our different personalities and different approaches. Ambassador Kaskarelis and I are both disciples of Heraclitus, who said that everything is fluid; everything moves and nothing stays the same. I must say that Ambassador Kaskarelis is the most accomplished diplomat in the Greek diplomatic service.

Q: And finally a message to the community.

A: We still have four weeks before we go. My farewell message is a message of acknowledgement and appreciation to the Greek American community, which has been a tremendous source of strength for us working here. One particular moment I will never forget was when Dora Bakoyannis called me from Bucharest, once the NATO summit was over. She conveyed very warm words for the support offered by His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, by individual Greek-Americans, and Greek American organizations. That was one the best, if not the best moment, of my tenure here, because it was a moment of recognition of the important collaboration with the Greek American community. Now let me also say that Greeceʼs decision and the outcome of the Bucharest Summit regarding the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was truly a very good moment for all Hellenes everywhere.

And a last word. I want to thank everyone for their support, including the media for the criticism they extended to me. Criticism is always welcomed and indispensable for anyone holding public office.