Diplomacy

In an interview with TIME Rome Bureau Chief Wilton Wynn, Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou discussed a number of issues of concern to him. Excerpts:

On NATO. We have a vision of a Europe without blocs, a loose federation of all European countries. Until that vision is realized, our policy is one of detente and of freezing weapons (deployment), especially missiles. At the / same time, we recognize the need for balance to help preserve peace. Greece is different from other NATO countries. The threat from Turkey is something we live with 24 hours a day, (but) this alliance does not give us any guarantees against attack by another member.

On Turkey. In 1974 Turkey invaded Cyprus with NATO arms, and since then it has occupied 37% of the island. Neither Turkey nor Greece has any business being in Cyprus. Cyprus is not Greek territory, but there are ethnic bonds of language, culture and history between Greece and Cyprus. What has NATO done to curb Turkish aggression?

Turkish leaders have never accepted the legal status quo in the Aegean. They want either the partition of the Aegean or co-sovereignty over the region. They want half of the continental shelf in the eastern Aegean, and claim that Turkey, rather than Greece, has air-defense responsibility for an area that includes some of Greece’s most important islands. It looks like the beginning of the dismemberment of Greece. Since all NATO exercises in the Aegean validate the Turkish viewpoint, we do not participate in them.

On the superpowers. We take the view that any measures, American or Soviet, that may lead away from detente to cold war are a threat to peace. Our position on the (U.S.) Pershing and cruise missiles extends to the (Soviet) SS-20s. Our belief is that having nuclear weapons is more likely to bring war and devastation to this area than to prevent it. I don’t agree that the European Community or NATO can impose decisions on us. We intend to be able to state our views as Greeks, and that means we may disagree (with the West) on many things.

On East-West problems. Words sometimes may be harsher than they need be. We deplored the loss of civilian lives in the unfortunate event of (the Soviet downing of) the Korean Air Lines jet, and immediately asked for an investigation. We found it difficult to understand how, in these days of modern technology, a plane could be accidentally so far off course. We condemned the imposition of martial law in Poland, but we opposed the imposition of sanctions by the West, believing this would encourage tension and undermine detente.

On the European Community. It is not our position to get out. Of course, if it were a question of national survival, that would be different.

On the U.S. (In criticizing the U.S.) I make a sharp distinction between the American people and the policies of American governments. I reject the label anti-American.