"Reaction to the opening of a new era in relations between Israel and Greece" – this is the assessment of the Greek Alternate Minister for Foreign Affairs Yannos Kranidiotis of last week's attack on offices of the Greece-Israel Friendship Association in Athens. This was the first act taken upon itself by an unknown organisation called "the Black Star" Kranidiotis, who visited Israel on the day after the attack, said that, according to information he had received, this was a fundamentalist Islamic organisation trying to undermine the new and better balanced policy of Greece in the Middle East. "The organisation wished to protest against my visit here and to harm the new relations being formed between the two countries", he explained in an interview to "Haaretz".

The Alternate Minister judges that this is a one-time event which will not repeat itself. This evaluation may be put to the test with no difficulty at all. The list of visits expected to take place in the near future in Athens and Jerusalem is long: Navy Commander Alex Tal is due to visit Greece in the coming few days. Foreign Minister David Levy will probably visit Athens at the beginning of September, and at the same time the Greek Minister of Agriculture Anomeritis will visit Israel, immediately followed by the Minister of Defense, Akis Tsochatzopoulos. The list will probably be concluded by Weizman and Barak – in a first visit of its kind by a an Israeli president or prime minister to the Hellenic Republic – and their Greek counterparts, Premier Costas Simitis and President Costis Stefanopoulos, who has been invited to celebrate the Orthodox Christmas in the Holy Land. Observers say that the change in Greek foreign policy, which began early in the decade but which is now gaining momentum, has several causes. Firstly, the changes which have occurred within the socialist pan-hellenic ruling party, Pasok, since the death of its founder and leader Andreas Papandreou in 1996. Papandreou's successor, present Prime Minister Costas Simitis, has been consistently diverting Greece from its pro-Arab anti-American policy, towards NATO, the European Community and the Western world.

The increasing interest of Greece in Israel is also connected with the fact that Israel has become one of the main markets of Greece in the Middle East. Total annual exports of Greece to Israel have reached approximately 140 million dollars. However, it appears that the main reason for the warming of relations is erosion of the Greek approach according to which "the friend of my enemy is my enemy". The Greeks are now regretting that they failed to implement the military agreement signed with Israel in December '94, thus allowing Turkey to achieve a close alliance with Israel.

All these reasons are all the more valid in view of the results of the elections in Israel, which provided Greece with a final motivation to accelerate the closening of ties.

Kranidiotis says that "the immediate Greek interest in Israel lies in its geographical proximity. What happens here directly affects us, therefore we vigorously support peace and stability in the region". He adds that "the new Israeli government was welcomed in Greece and the whole of Europe. We believe and expect that the peace process will be actively renewed".

According to the Alternate Foreign Minister, Israeli interest in cooperation lies in the capability of Greece to become a "gateway and bridge between the Middle East and Western Europe". Kranidiotis adds that "Greece has good relations with the Arab world and with the Palestinians, and we believe that we can contribute considerably to bringing the two sides closer to each other". Kranidiotis is considered to be one of "Papandreou's boys". The change of direction he is undergoing with regard to Israel is probably a general change in the ruling party. This change finds expression, inter-alia, in the setting up of the "Athens Dialogue" (a forum of meetings between Israelis and Palestinians) by Kranidiotis two years ago.

Kranidiotis envisages cooperation in many other fields. "The Euro-Mediterranean framework of the development of the Balkans are only two examples", he says. Some two thousand Greek companies are active in the Balkan countries, mainly in FYROM, Bulgaria and Albania. This is actually the backyard of Greece, a fact which was particularly conspicuous during the war in Kosovo, when the position taken by Greece was most in opposition of all the Europeans.

On its part, Israel is showing interest in the Greek initiative, both because of the economic angle and the investment channels it is opening for Israeli companies, and due to the political angle which will allow Israel to strengthen its relations with the countries in the region.

Kranidiotis was questioned regarding the issue of relations between Israel and Turkey and the assessment according to which the strengthening of relations of Greece with Israel is mainly due to its desire to undermine these relations with Turkey. To this, he replies: "We oppose the establishment of alliances in the region, since the latter contribute to disputes and conflict. Therefore, we most certainly aspire to a balance in this alliance".

In the same breath, the Alternate Minister aims to create a link between the peace process in the Middle East and a solution to the Cyprus problem and the Greek-Turkish rapprochement. "The issues are interconnected", he explains "Cyprus is an Eastern Mediterranean problem. We believe that Israel too should have an interest in a solution to the problem, which is a source of harm to peace and stability in the entire region".

According to Kranidiotis, an end to the dispute in the Middle East will allow the Israelis to become involved in the peace process in Cyprus, and this involvement will contribute to general reconciliation in the region.

RAPPROCHEMENT ALSO BETWEEN GREECE AND IRAN

Last month, Greek Defence Minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos visited Tehran. He was the first Minister of Defence of the European Union to visit Iran since the revolution of '79.

The Iranian news agency reported that the President of Greece, Costis Stefanopoulos, is due to visit Iran at the beginning of October. Various reports in Iran claim that the two countries have established a joint military committee, and that they are planning a tripartite military alliance with Armenia. The Alternate Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece, Yannos Kranidiotis, rejects these reports and the assessment that the tightening of the ties of Greece with Iran was intended to balance the Israeli-Turkish alliance: "We have good relations with Iran but these are solely connected with economic and technical matters, and, at any rate, we are not cooperating in military fields".

The Alternate Foreign Minister added that, during his visit, Tsochatzopoulos expressed the concern of Greece over the arrest of Jews in Iran.