What Can Greece Expect from Joe Biden?

Greece expects a lot from Joe Biden, President elect of the United States, based on the man’s previous stance on Greece and his once humorous comment that he is “Joe Bidenopoulos”.
There have been other occasions, too, when the 46th US President, as of Wednesday, has declared his respect and love for Greece, its long history and civilization.
In fact, at an annual White House reception celebrating Greek Independence Day as Vice President he declared himself an “honorary Greek.”
More importantly, Biden has stressed the importance of Greece as the cradle of the ideas of democracy and the democratic state that influenced deeply the forefathers of America.
“Both literally and figuratively, we stand together. It is a union forged throughout our history,” he said about the US-Greece bond, during the Greek Independence Day reception at the White House.

US stance on Greece with President Biden

During the election campaign, the Biden team had issued an outline of the policies on Greece and Cyprus the Democratic candidate would implement if elected.
The policies include collaboration with Greece to advance stability in the eastern Mediterranean.
Biden aims to out Turkish aggressive behavior that violates international law or contravenes its commitments as a NATO ally, such as Turkish violations of Greek airspace.
He work diplomatically to bring a resolution to the Cyprus issue question and continue to be a strong voice for religious freedom globally, including the rights of the Greek Orthodox Church.

Greece-Turkey relations

The last year of the Trump administration coincided with the culmination of Turkey‘s erratic  – if not aggressive – behavior against Greece and Cyprus.
Behavior that included repeated territorial waters and airspace violations, efforts to push thousands of migrants to enter Greece by force, drawing of “Turkey’s maps” and continuous inflammatory rhetoric.
During the year, Greece’s calls on NATO to take a stance fell in deaf ears, with the alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg clearly showing that he favored Turkey.
The US State Department often called on Turkey to stop the illegal acts that increased tension in the eastern Mediterranean, but to no avail.
For analysts, the reason the US and NATO turned a blind eye to Ankara’s acts was mainly because Donald Trump has substantial business interests in Turkey.

Greek expectations

What Greece truly expects from the new US President is to play an active role to put an end to Turkey’s expansionism by using diplomatic means.
Also, to maintain the territorial integrity of Cyprus and help avoid the division of the island and the official Republic of Cyprus as Ankara plans.
Furthermore, maintain the role of NATO as a peace-keeping military alliance that does not succumb to pressure from an ally against the rights of another as has recently happened between Turkey and Greece.
Finally, as a EU member, Greece would like to see the United States re-establish good relations with Europe that exist since the end of World War II and were interrupted during the previous administration.