Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos on Tuesday hinted at the prospect of a heightened American military presence in Greece, as he answered press questions after his meeting in Washington D.C. with US Secretary of Defense James Mattis at the Pentagon.
Subsequent press reports back in Athens on Wednesday morning claimed that the controversial Kammenos even proposed a regional alliance of SE European countries - including the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (fYRoM) - outside the NATO framework, and ostensibly aimed to deflect perceived Russian meddling in the region.
He added that such a plan would bypass the thorny "name issue" problem.
In his remarks, Mattis merely echoed standing US positions of Greece being an "excellent ally" and that Washington is always open to closer cooperation.
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In a subsequent comment at the State Department regarding the Prespa agreement to finally resolve the fYRoM "name issue", Kammenos assessed that a Sept. 30 referendum in the neighboring country showed that the majority of citizens there were against the pact. He met at the State Department with US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Wes Mitchell.
The outspoken Kammenos is a vocal opponent of the Prespa agreement, regardless of the fact that he is the leader of the junior coalition partner in the mostly leftist Tsipras government, which negotiated, signed and aims to ratify the agreement in Greece's parliament when the latter is tabled.
Kammenos founded and leads a small right-wing party that found its electoral niche by espousing a populist agenda before 2015, i.e. anti-austerity, anti-bailout, Euro-skeptic and nationalist positions.
