The agreement on defense cooperation between Greece and the United States, which provides for the deployment of American military bases on Greek territory, will be unlimited, the newspaper “Kathimerini” writes.
Now the agreement is renewed annually.
“Two months of negotiations between the technical groups of Greece and the USA on amending the Annex to the Agreement on Mutual Negotiable Cooperation (MDCA) have ended. The validity of the new agreement is no longer indicated, it will be open in time and can only be terminated in the case of denunciation of one of the parties”, – the newspaper writes.
The agreement will be officially signed by Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during his visit to Athens in about two weeks.
According to the publication, in Greece they want to increase the strategic importance of the country and strengthen guarantees, expanding the US presence in Greece during a period of uncertainty in the region. “Strengthening Greece’s relations with the United States was central to the government”, – the article says.
As for the essence of the negotiations, they began almost immediately after the oath of the new government.
Last Friday, September 20, Foreign Minister Dendias convened a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the crisis management hall, at which Greece’s final proposal was formulated in two hours, and he spoke by telephone with US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt, whom he had met in the afternoon earlier, and conveyed Greek positions, the newspaper writes.
The United States and Greece have significantly strengthened military ties in recent years. In Greece, new American military bases are being created. In December 2018, Washington and Athens began a strategic dialogue that included all the main areas of cooperation.
In the summer it was reported that the parties want to consider expanding the MDCA to eight or ten years, and then make it indefinite. Now the Greek Parliament annually approves the extension of the agreement for one year.