Panagiotis Pavlos: The sham philhellenism of French ambassador Araud

We do not think that there is a Greek citizen today who, despite his ideological position or party identity, is unable to agree that Greece is going through the most critical phase in its post-junta political history, facing symmetrical and asymmetrical threats from outside and from within. I will not expand on all of these threats. I will dwell on one point only. One week ago, Kathimerini published an interview with the former French Ambassador, Gerard Araud, entitled: “The Turks are bullies, but they do not want a conflict.”

This is an interesting interview, in which the French diplomat, with past posts, among others in the USA, Israel, and the United Nations, makes a series of statements regarding Turkey and Greece. Positions that delighted various persons, both in political and diplomatic circles of Athens, as well as among a certain portion of the public.

A quick read of the article of the reputable newspaper is enough to confirm, first of all, to the reader the good fortune that Greece has today to be supported not only by the allied country of France as a whole, but also by former French diplomats with international influence. What few found, however, was an aside in Mr Araud’s interview.

Referring to the current situation of the crisis with Turkey, he said: “Both sides must make significant concessions, both real and symbolic, and these concessions must be accepted by the nationalists in each country. Because there is also an issue of nationalism in Greece… And unfortunately the spirit of the times is not a spirit of common sense “.

The Greek people are “nationalists”!

Suddenly, the balancing speech of the “philhellene” French former state official, mutated into a relentless attack on Greek patriotism, which the former ambassador put in the same basket with the term “nationalist”, embelished also with the lack of “common sense”. That is, according to Mr. Araud, the Greek people, who do not want and have not authorized symbolic and, rather, real concessions to Turkey, are suddenly foolish nationalists.

The same nationalists include, let’s suppose, all the personnel of the Greek Armed Forces, who for more than 60 days now are straining, overcoming themselves daily and expanding the limits of their endurance, in order to preserve the Greek land, air, and sea, and Greece’s sovereign rights against a rabid neo-Ottoman dynasty, which apparently is by no means alone within the EU.

But what are the motives for this “noble” attack by the former French diplomat? Gerard Araud, as the article informs us, is currently based in New York and is a member of the American consulting company Albright Stonebridge Group. And if that name means nothing to you, it’s the Strategic Advisory and Trade Diplomacy Group, owned by former Secretary of State Bill Clinton’s Madeleine Albright.

Company of Turkish interests

One of the key activities of this Company is to: “unlock global markets, going beyond open doors, helping its customers navigate challenging markets, solve problems and implement risk management strategies“. So far, one would say that, okay, the French diplomat is no different from some domestic lobbyists for economic and geopolitical interests, who try to maintain a profitable basis in the formulation of Greek foreign policy, often in absentia, and not infrequently, to the detriment. of the Greek people.

But what makes things even more interesting is that cases like Mr Araud’s are, as it turns out on social media – and in particular this miraculous tool called Twitter – highly respected in circles within the EU core, and in services related to Foreign Policy and the imposition of (?) sanctions on Turkey.

Sanctions in a country that, 65 years after the violation of one of the greatest international treaties of the 20th century, the Treaty of Lausanne, with its well-known consequences, continues to insist that Kemalism and neo-Ottomanism are two sides of the same coin.

Thus, we see associates and advisers of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Joseph Borell, such as Natalie Tocci and Angelina Eichhorst, connecting and collaborating with people like Gerard Araud, exchanging and promoting information on Turkish positions. interests expressed by Turkish internationalists, journalists, lobbyists and others, in order to avoid, for example, the imposition of severe EU sanctions on Turkey.

Albright portfolio

Taking into account the portfolio of Mrs. Albright’s Group, it is not at all difficult to understand why Mr. Araud called us nationalists, because we just want Greece not to lose what it has recovered over the last 200 years with rivers of blood and the sacrifices of hundreds of thousands of Greeks, and not for the country to be damned as a poor Balkan vassal of gentlemen in tailcoats, or a fez.

It is obvious that the refined Mr Araud is not alone. Time will tell if I am going to refer to the multitude of cheap actors who, at the moment these lines are being written, are trying to make a profit either by being financed directly by Turkey or by providing consulting services with a promising benefit in the near future.

But what is interesting here is the following. Apparently, there is a temporary decline in Turkish aggression that has manifested itself as a systematic practical challenge to Greek sovereign rights. And the Greek Armed Forces may have a chance for a short break. However, the same does not apply to the Greek people. The case of the “philhellene” (as far as open doors can take him) Mr. Araud, must constantly and permanently awaken the Greek citizen.

It is obvious that the Greek Prime Minister, Greek diplomacy, and Greece in general, in addition to the decisive positive actions that he is taking internationally, are under a regime of intense and increasing pressure, in order to lead to a situation of “honest compromise” against the “insignificant risk”. which is artificially presented by some centers as the other pillar of the dilemma: “conciliation with Turkey and concessions – war with disastrous consequences”.

Asymmetric warfare

In this asymmetric psychological warfare that we have entered in the recent period, the Greek people must take and maintain a vigilant stance like that of the Armed Forces. Thus, to isolate any selfish consultant of a private interest group and think tank, foreign or domestic, who does not care about the tons of blood shed by his immediate ancestors.

At the same time, to remind the Greek Prime Minister and the Greek government that, regardless of the intensity of the pressure that Mr. Mitsotakis himself is under, as was recently seen at both the MED7 meeting in Corsica and the Thessaloniki International Fair last weekend, the people are backing him, sturdy, strong, and united. Backing not in a bid for capitulation, but for the undiscountable defense of all the rights of Greece.

From the full influence of the EEZ on the Kastellorizo ​​complex, which is recognized and supported by the USA itself, through its Ambassador in Athens Jeffrey Pyatt, to the protection of our Muslim minority in Thrace, which is being oppressed by blackmail and threats from Ankara, and until the preservation of social peace on our islands, despite recent systematic and strategically attempted destabilization attempts. Because philhellenism means: “I love Greeks, not because they fill my wallet, but because they are Greeks.”