How the Emirates are located between Greece and Turkey

By Costas Raptis

Accepting overextension or evaluating broader reclassifications whose dynamics have not yet been fully elucidated?

In any case, the United Arab Emirates is changing course after a period of very “activist” involvement in things not only in the Persian Gulf, but also in the eastern Mediterranean. And this new line is codified in the phrase of the UAE ambassador in Athens: “We believe that we have had several confrontations with different countries and today we focus more on the economy, on promoting prosperity and cooperation with all countries in the region or beyond.” Decrypted wording refers to the objective limit encountered by the most controversial policies, but also to the data created by the new, more distanced US relationship with the region.

Mr. Suleiman Hamed Almazroui was accredited in our country only last January, in the middle of a lockdown. His tenure coincides with the spectacular development of his country’s relations with Greece, even in the field of security – a development in which geography and history do not give an obvious explanation, but with the above, the leading role of Abu Dhabi gives the whole previous period in halting Ankara’s ambitions. As a result, of course, the recent visit of the powerful man of the UAE, Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, to the neighbor, in which it was announced that $ 10 billion will be invested, creates a certain “disorientation” in Greek public opinion (if not the ruling class). “.

Triangle

Yesterday’s meeting of Mr. Almazraoui with Greek journalists was on the occasion of the UAE national holiday, which on December 2 marks exactly fifty years since their founding as an association. But what exactly is happening in the Athens-Ankara-Abu Dhabi triangle was obviously at the center of journalistic interest.

The UAE ambassador was clear about the differences in his country’s relations with Greece on the one hand and Turkey on the other. In the first case, political and military cooperation is extremely advanced, but there is still much to be done at the economic level, not only transnationally but also in terms of horizontal partnerships between companies.

With Turkey, again, things are moving in the opposite direction: given the serious political differences that remain, priority is given to “low policy” (economic and cultural cooperation) issues, with the expectation that they will gradually contribute to a more comprehensive normalization of relations.

In particular, Suleiman Almazroui stressed that Greece is one of only 10 countries with which the United Arab Emirates has strategic cooperation, as demonstrated by their participation in the recent interdisciplinary exercise “Medusa-11” in Crete. The will of the UAE is to continue military cooperation with Greece and to participate in other similar military exercises.

In addition, the UAE sees “enormous potential” in tripartite cooperation with India and Greece and expects the positive attitude of those involved to translate into decisions.

At the economic level, the ambassador announced that next year the Emirates have been invited to be honored at the Thessaloniki International Fair, the first Arab state to receive this honor, and recalled that his country is the second largest Arab economy and the third largest in the Arab world. Middle East.

In addition, he referred to his recent visit to Western Macedonia to explore investment opportunities and focused on the UAE’s interest in renewable energy, food security, real estate, tourism with an emphasis on aviation, organic farming, small and medium-sized enterprises and shipping. He reminded the leading role of the UAE in the management of ports in 100 different countries and therefore the interest that arises for Greece, although the largest ports have already been given.

“Tangible”

In any case, he stressed that something “tangible” is needed, because the current level of trade relations can be improved.

Having completed fifty years of political existence, primarily dedicated to deepening its unification process, the Emirates looks forward to the next 50 years with a focus on economic prosperity, innovation and regional stability. “The economy can lead to prosperity and other pillars of relations and go hand in hand with diplomacy and politics,” Almazrui said.

The Emirati ambassador estimated that the improvement of the UAE relations with Turkey can be useful for Greece as well, because his country is “a bigger player than many regional states and can have a positive impact”.

As he characteristically stressed, “there are great changes in the world and one needs to evaluate your position”, while as an element that encouraged Abu Dhabi to make the recent openings to Ankara, he mentioned that Egypt was the first to move in this direction.