Liz does it again – bypassing Brussels to sign deal with another EU country
Despite EU’s ‘Common Foreign and Security Policy’, Greece will today sign bilateral deal with UK
Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2021
Far from being ‘isolated Little Britain’, Liz Truss proves again that Global Britain is on the march
Today in London, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will welcome the Greek foreign minister, Nikos Dendias, for the signing of a strategic framework memorandum between the United Kingdom and the Hellenic Republic of Greece. This agreement will cover foreign policy, defence, and other areas to strengthen bilateral relations between the EU country and Brexit Britain.
Yesterday Mr Dendias gave an interview to a Greek national newspaper in which he underlined how the deal with the UK will be more extensive than those signed with France and the United States in the last few months.
Warm words for Brexit Britain from Greece
In his interview, Mr Dendias described the United Kingdom as:
“A country which played a key role in the Greek independence, a country with which we fought side by side in two World Wars, a nuclear force and permanent member of the UN Security Council and guarantor force in Cyprus.”
- Nikos Dendias, Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sun 24 Oct 2021
He went on to underline the importance of this new agreement with Global Britain:
“We are laying the foundation for the strengthening of this relationship in a new framework after their withdrawal from the EU.”
What did French President Macron manage to achieve last month?
On 28 September 2021, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis signed a defence contract deal with Emmanuel Macron.
At that time Monsieur Macron was still smarting from being cut out of the new UK-Australia-United States alliance known as AUKUS, which resulted in Australia cancelling what France had called “the contract of the century” to build submarines for Australia.
The new Greek deal with France was primarily an agreement on the purchase of military equipment, which had already been agreed. Greece has a long history with France, with its nascent air force over 100 years ago being initially composed of four French aeroplanes.
The new Greek deal with Global Britain’s Liz Truss will go much further, however
As the Greek Foreign Secretary explained yesterday:
“The agreement is not purely on defence as were the agreements with France, USA and the UAE, but a framework-agreement which will allow the deepening of the Greek relations with a country with which we have long and traditional ties of friendship.”
- Nikos Dendias, Greek Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sun 24 Oct 2021
Greece’s Foreign Ministry were keen to stress the importance they place on good relations with the United Kingdom:
“The Minister’s visit to London is the second one within a few months, a fact which underlines the special importance that Greece attaches to the strengthening of traditional ties with the United Kingdom in the post-Brexit era.”
- Official statement, Greek Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Sun 24 Oct 2021
As part of the strengthening of Parliamentary cooperation between the two countries, Mr Dendias will hold meetings with the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Tom Tugendhat MP, and the Chairman of the Defence Committee, Tobias Ellwood MP.
During his stay in London, he will also address the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) with a speech titled "Enhancing Security and Stability in Europe and the Mediterranean".
EU countries are lining up for deals with Global Britain, cutting out Brussels
Ostensibly the EU now has what it calls the ‘Common Foreign and Security Policy’ (CFSP), whereby all EU member countries have agreed that foreign and defence policies are to be coordinated at Brussels level.
The EU describes it thus:
“In foreign policy, the EU's ultimate decision-making body is the European Council, which comprises EU country heads of state and governments. Most foreign and security policy decisions require the agreement of all EU countries.”
- EU Commission website, accessed 25 Oct 2021
The EU’s official policy now seems to be in disarray, with various EU countries lining up to do bilateral deals with Brexit Britain. As Facts4EU.Org reported only two weeks ago, the foreign ministers from three other EU countries visited the UK for an important meeting with Liz Truss. They agreed a joint communiqué covering closer economic ties, defence, democracy, human rights, and the “malign actors” of Russia and China.
Today it’s Greece’s turn.
Observations
Is Liz Truss quietly making Moussaka out of Macron?
It must sometimes seem to President Macron that each time he does a deal in an effort to boost his ratings ahead of next April’s French presidential elections, Brexit Britain steps in and eclipses him – or at least steals some of his thunder.
Today we have the impressive Liz Truss once again opening the UK’s hands of friendship to another EU country. As she did in her role as Secretary of State for International Trade, she seems to have stepped seamlessly into the role at the Foreign Office, building relationships and securing strategic advantages for Global Britain.
At the time of going to press (5am), the details of the understanding that she will sign with Greece today have not yet been released. However Mr Dendias’s comments yesterday would seem to suggest that the UK-EU deal will go further than that which Greece signed with France.
EU’s ‘solidarity’ questioned again, by EU countries doing separate deals with Global Britain
Not only will Monsieur Macron be unimpressed, it is now becoming clear that the EU’s ‘unity and solidarity’ espoused by the Eurocrats in Brussels continues to crumble.
Today’s deal between the UK and Greece will surely cause some apoplexy in the EU Commission and its ‘European External Action Service’, which is supposed to be coordinating all EU countries behind a common EU defence and security policy.
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[ Sources: Greek Ministry for Foreign Affairs | Greek newspaper Eleftheros Typos | EU Commission ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.
Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Mon 25 Oct 2021
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