Gratitude and Misgivings

In his first interview after being sworn in, Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou had mixed emotions about the U.S. and its relationship to the Greece he will govern. Excerpts from his session with TIME Rome Bureau Chief Wilton Wynn and Athens Reporter Mirka Gondicas:

On the U.S. bases in Greece. Foreign bases are not proper for our territory. We don't want to get involved in a holocaust that is not of our making. But I will not close the U.S. bases unilaterally. We want to work on a timetable for their removal, mutually agreed upon. [Meanwhile,] those bases are American and of necessity will be commanded by American officers. But we insist that there be a Greek officer in charge of information and control, so that no operation will be started from Greece against a third country with whom we have good diplomatic relations.

On NATO. Here is a unique problem: we belong to NATO, but this alliance refused to guarantee our frontiers [against Turkish attack]. Turkey has made many claims on operational control of the eastern Aegean, on the continental shelf, on control of air space. Many times Turkish leaders have even hinted that islands of the eastern Aegean are not necessarily Greek. We have to maintain a high level of readiness and modernize our armed forces. This costs us enormously when we should be spending our resources on education, health and development.

The U.S., Holland, Belgium, West Germany have been modernizing Turkish forces at a spectacular rate, so that the equilibrium in short order will be undermined.

On Turkey. There is no rational reason for Turkey to expand westward. We could and should remain good neighbors. But we should respect each other's sovereign territory. Turkey maintains 120,000 troops equipped with landing craft in the Aegean. Obviously, this is not for defense against the Soviet Union. It seems aimed at Greece. It's a bitter fact.

On his early impressions of the U.S. It's important to keep in mind that Europeans [in 1940] knew little about American society and politics. What they knew was mostly from movies. It was a distant land. But the name of [President Franklin] Roosevelt evoked a positive reaction among all democratic Greeks. I was impressed with the openness of American society. I admired people like Adlai Stevenson: he was my friend and I was his representative in Minnesota. Later I had close contacts with the advisers of President Kennedy. I personally have a great deal of gratitude for the chance given me [in the U.S.] to grow up as a scientist and professor. Not only is my wife American, but my children are American-born, and many, many of my friends are American.

On his alienation from the U.S. The Johnson Administration made certain statements critical of the [military] dictatorship [that ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974], but in substance the U.S. and NATO accepted it. The second blow came in 1974 when Turkish troops armed by NATO and the U.S., using arms in violation of American law, invaded Cyprus. The third blow, and one still very much alive, is Turkey's claim on the Aegean while the U.S. modernizes Turkey's arsenal.

On improving relations. It would be foolish for us to seek a confrontation with the U.S. It is our wish that all these sources of friction be overcome. As I assume this office I would like to explore the possibilities creatively and consistently for arriving at some decisions and some understandings that would lift from us the shadow of a confrontation between Turkey and Greece.

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