The Defense Minister of the SYRIZA-ANEL government, Panos Kammenos, made an official visit to the USA, where he attended the ceremonial parade dedicated to Greece’s Independence Day.

During his visit to the USA, P. Kammenos, met with the Assistant Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of the USA, with specific responsibility for European and Eurasian Affairs, Victoria Nuland.

According to the statements of Greece’s Defense Minster, he tabled the issue of the joint exploitation by Greece and the USA of the oil and natural gas deposits which are located in Greece. Indeed he presented this cooperation as the way out from the capitalist crisis. He called for closer military cooperation with the USA and Israel. He made assurances that the new Greek government remains stably oriented to close cooperation with the USA. He offered to contribute to NATO and US operations that are being conducted under the pretext of the “war on terror”.

In relation to these statements of the Defense Minister of the coalition government of the “leftwing” SYRIZA with the nationalist party ANEL, the Press Office of the CC of the KKE issued the following statement on the 30th of March:

"The Defense Minister of the SYRIZA-ANEL government, Panos Kammenos, has made a series of unacceptable and dangerous statements during his visit to the USA.

He attempted to present the proposition of sharing of the energy wealth of the Aegean Sea and of the country more broadly with the United States as a panacea for the capitalist crisis. However, life has shown that energy issues, in capitalist conditions and in conditions of the intensification of inter-imperialist competition, not only fail to secure prosperity but are in fact a "magnet" for conflicts and bloody confrontations, the "source" of the dismemberment of states and of other evils.

The government bears grave responsibilities. The invitation to the USA to act as a transatlantic arbiter of the energy wealth of the country, and its presentation as a force guaranteeing stability, are a provocation to our people.

Experience has shown that "solutions" of this nature not only undermine sovereign rights but lead our people to new hazards, as has been shown by a series of developments in other countries, who are close allies of the USA in the region, like Georgia and Ukraine. The shared exploitation of resources, to which the Minister of Defense has invited the USA, relates to the "Feast" which the American energy monopolies along with local businessmen seek to organize on the backs of the working class and of the other popular strata.

Equally dangerous are the Minister's statements regarding an extension of the united defense doctrine of Greece and Cyprus "with the participation of Israel, in combination with tighter co-operation with the USA." For they involve our country even further within inter-imperialist competition, while peace in the Aegean and the Mediterranean cannot be safeguarded by those responsible for dozens of crimes around the world, those who continue to butcher the people of Palestine.

The Minister of Defense has once more offered to have the country support the aggressive plans of NATO and the USA, which are under preparation in the Middle East and Northern Africa with the excuse of "the war against Terror."

The above, as well as the hymns to the USA to which Mr. Kammenos has resorted, and his statement "fear not, Greece is not changing its course", constitute the guarantees offered by the SYRIZA-ANEL government to the USA. These statements come on the heels of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' visit to Moscow. They show the desire of the new government to use risky maneuvers in the geopolitical conflict of capitalist "giants", intending to guarantee the greatest possible benefits for the country's bourgeoisie. However, it is well known that "when the buffalos fight in the swamp, the frogs pay the price!" For this reason, the KKE’s position for disengagement from the imperialist alliances of NATO and the EU, for the unilateral cancellation of debt, for the socialization of the tools of the economy, of the wealth produced by the workers, with people’s power, is necessary and timely. Under this orientation, the mineral wealth of the country, which is in fact the people's property, can be used with the criterion of the people's interests instead of being handed over or sold to the monopolies."

31.03.2015