From the point of view of the cafe

This constant ebb and flow of our collective national moods and analyzes can drive any sane person crazy. Especially the nuances that are not limited to the narrow regional Greek horizon, but insist that you be interested in the bigger picture as well. This is a picture that does not place Greece of 11 million people at the center of global developments, nor does it put the intentions of our political leaders in the position of the steam engine of European history (not to mention the world).

Only three decades have passed since we deemed a 7 to 10 ratio of US military aid to Greece and Turkey fully sufficient for our national security against our continuing threat from the East. Now we forgot about it.

Not even two decades have passed since we regarded the presence of US bases on our soil as evidence of our patriotic submission and extreme risks of our involvement in various regional or larger wars. Now we think the exact opposite. The more and bigger the US bases, the safer we feel.

It’s only been a decade since the roles we’ve learned to live with were flipped in our minds. Good Europeans (with Delors, Santer Packs, etc.) suddenly became evil and cruel, while bad Americans (with bases and coups) turned into good fairies who kept us in Europe, against the will of Europeans.

It wasn’t even five years since we gritted our teeth because our leaders got along with Maduro and ran to Castro’s funerals, while the opposite Erdogan would call Trump at any time of the day and make confessions about his misadventures. . Then we felt isolated, insecure and vulnerable.

Not even three years have passed since the Americans expelled the Turks from the F-35 program and not a single year has passed since we began to realize that a brutal base is being established in Alexandroupolis which gives another strategic value to the region, bypassing Turkey.

And it wasn’t even six months since Turkey realized it, too, had a problem with its F-16s. At the same time, we got the green light to acquire F-35 fighters. Finally, not a month has passed since we learned that Menendez passed an amendment that would impose harsh conditions on Turkey for flying over the Greek islands.

Things were going well for us, so as of the day before yesterday, we knew there was a possibility that Turkey could finally get an upgrade for its F-16s. It hasn’t even been 48 hours since the last hour and we’ve all thrown it together in lamentations and swearing, talking about our own tragic national defeat. No need to read me. Fortunately, our foreign and defense policy is not a coffee shop. We would have already been wiped out as a nation.