On December 21, Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias stated that Greece would send a Hellenic Navy frigate to join the US-led operation in the Red Sea, “Prosperity Guardian”, to counter the naval blockade by Yemen’s Houthis against any cargo headed to Israel. Groups such as the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), Greek Committee for International Détente and Peace (EEDYE), the Communist Youth of Greece (KNE), and others have criticized the conservative New Democracy government for going against the sentiments of the Greek people and called for a major protest in Chania on December 28 against the docking of the US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS Gerald Ford, at the port of Souda.
Shortly following Dendias’ announcement, the KKE on December 22, accused the Greek government of deciding to send its frigate due to the great interests of shipping capital by the Greek bourgeoisie.
The KKE has also noted that “Greek military personnel are participating in Operation Enduring Freedom, whose maritime area of responsibility is precisely the Red and Arabian Seas, the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean, as well as in the EU ‘security’ Operation ‘Atalanta’ in the Horn of Africa.”
Meanwhile, the EEDYE said on December 24, “This is a very dangerous decision, which constitutes another link in the long chain of Greece’s involvement in the imperialist plans of the USA, NATO, EU, putting the Greek people in great misadventures. Especially in these conditions where the murderous aggression and the plans of the killer state of Israel against the Palestinian people and other peoples of the Middle East are escalating, this decision is another piece in the puzzle of supporting the murderous policy of the state of Israel.”
Since Israel began bombing Gaza on October 7, progressive groups in Greece extended their solidarity with Palestine and denounced Israel’s war crimes in Gaza. As of now, the relentless Israeli bombing has killed nearly 21,000 people, and nearly two million people have been displaced.
In protest of Israel’s genocidal war against Gaza, Ansar Allah in Yemen announced that they would not allow ships destined for Israel to pass through the Red Sea until the latter ceased its war against Palestinians in Gaza. They captured an Israeli-owned ship called Galaxy Leader in mid-November and have fired missiles on dozens of ships in the region since then. With the intensification of their Red Sea blockade against Israel, as well as the significant impact on trade, the US announced “Operation Prosperity Guardian” to “protect” the Red Sea trade route.
Read more: US-led maritime force will not stop Yemen’s Houthis from enforcing blockade against Israel
Greece also participates in the European Union’s multinational mission “EMASOH / Agenor” which promotes “the safe and free passage of merchant ships in the Persian Gulf, the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf of Oman”.
The Hellenic Forces are also deployed in Saudi Arabia with a Guided Missile Battery “Patriot”, and it maintains in the eastern Mediterranean the frigate “Nikiforos Fokas”, integrated into the NATO force SNMG2, and the frigate “Aegean” integrated into “IRINI” – an EU operation officially “running” to comply with the UN arms embargo on Libya.
The Press Office of the Central Committee of the KKE stressed that all such involvement of the Greek military must cease now.
Already, the Greek communists have been at loggerheads with the government over the country’s strategic partnership with the US and the imperialist war alliance NATO. Greek ports have become a major docking point for NATO fleets involved in imperialist maneuvers in the Mediterranean.
Over the past several years, the KKE, KNE, and trade unionists from the All Workers Militant Front (PAME) have organized protests demanding Greece’s exit from NATO, the withdrawal of the foreign military from the Greek bases, and an end to the use of Greek ports and the involvement of Greek military in NATOs activities in the region.
