Eagle, I don't want to form an alliance anymore.

Analysts point out that Greece's current political and economic predicament is the result of a combination of factors, including its long-term reliance on foreign debt, a single-industry structure, and excessive military spending under NATO. The trajectory of this crisis will not only affect Greece's domestic political landscape but will also impact the security situation in the Mediterranean region and even the whole of Europe...

When the full text of the IMF's terms and conditions was published by the left-wing coalition, and when the Greek people saw the terms written in black and white, such as "privatization of the power company," "privatization of the telecommunications company," and "transfer of the management rights of the Port of Piraeus," their anger transcended left and right.

Selling Greece's state-owned facilities and key industries to foreigners is no longer a matter of left or right; it's a matter of national dignity!

A local NDP councilor, who is usually the most vocal critic of the Communist Party in the council, said on television:

“I oppose the Communist Party, I have opposed the Communist Party my whole life. But if the Communist Party wants to protect the ports of Greece, then I choose to stand with the Communist Party, not with those national traitors in the parliament building!”

As the news spread widely, the collapse of banks and the inability to pay salaries caused the police and the military to waver.

In late June, instances of insubordination occurred within police forces in Athens and several other major cities. Some officers refused to carry out orders to disperse demonstrators, with some removing their helmets and shields to join the marches.

Similar situations have occurred in the military, with some company and platoon-level officers privately stating that they would not fire on the Greek people.

While high-ranking military officers with close ties to the U.S. military still control the military's chain of command, the loyalty of the soldiers at the bottom of the chain is wavering.

On July 1st, hundreds of thousands of people marched in Athens. Syntagma Square was flooded with people, and the avenue leading from the square to the Parliament Building was packed with them. From a high vantage point, the avenue resembled a river of human flesh, converging from all directions of the city towards the Parliament Building.

Armed militias from all over the country are also marching toward Athens.

A convoy of dockworkers and veterans departed from Thessaloniki and traveled south along the national highway in trucks and buses, while farmers from the Peloponnese drove tractors adorned with Greek flags.

The flags in the parade were colorful:

There is a red flag; that is the hammer and sickle of the Greek Communist Party.

There's a green flag; that belongs to the Panhellenic Socialist Movement.

There is a blue and white flag, which serves as the Greek national flag and is carried by various nationalist groups...

The political spectrum of the marchers ranged from the far-left Anastasia to the far-right neo-Nazis; they had all united to oppose this treaty, which was essentially equivalent to selling the country to a foreign power!

The marchers marched toward the Parliament building. By July 3, over a million people had arrived in Athens. If you include Athens' local population of 7 million, that's almost 300 percent of the Greek population.

The defense line in front of the parliament building consisted of only a human wall of a few thousand riot police. The military brought in armored vehicles, but the line was torn apart like paper by the farmers' tractors and the workers' bulldozers.

The doors of the parliament building were broken down, and crowds poured into the building, filling the corridors, meeting rooms, and members' offices. Some people stood on the speaker's podium, some danced on members' desks, and someone hung a huge Greek flag on the front of the parliament building—hanging down from the roof and fluttering in the wind.

Government officials scattered and fled, and the prime minister left Athens by helicopter, arranged by the US embassy.

On the evening of July 3, the old government fled to Crete at the foot of Mount Ascetic. The exiled Greek government declared on Crete that it remained the legitimate government of Greece and would continue to exercise its powers on Crete until order was restored in Athens.

That evening, the Soviet news agency TASS broadcast extensively about Greece's dire situation to the Warsaw Pact, showcasing the humiliation of NATO countries with a tone that clearly revealed schadenfreude.

"...Athens is currently in a de facto power vacuum. The military has not yet made a statement, and spontaneous public management committees have emerged in many cities and regions across the country. On Crete, the U.S. Navy's Souda Bay base is on high alert."

China Central Television (CCTV) also reported on this matter in its evening news program on July 3, showing the domestic public the dire living conditions of people in the capitalist world.

Host: According to Xinhua News Agency, the largest mass movement since the end of World War II erupted in Athens, the capital of Greece, today. Millions of Greeks took to the streets, the parliament building was breached, and the Greek prime minister has left the capital and moved to Crete.

Please see the report sent back by our reporter.

A reporter appears on camera, with a sea of ​​people in Syntagma Square behind him: "I'm currently in Syntagma Square in Athens. As you can see, the entire avenue behind me is completely occupied by the marchers. From this vantage point, there are probably hundreds of thousands of people! The slogans chanted by the marchers mainly focus on opposing the International Monetary Fund's privatization demands and opposing foreign capital's control of the Greek economy."

Scene change: A Greek policeman takes off his helmet and shakes hands with demonstrators. Agents in police and military uniforms appear in the crowd. Army armored vehicles are overturned, and government roadblocks are doused with gasoline and set ablaze.

Around 3 PM today, the police line in front of the Parliament building collapsed. Some riot police voluntarily withdrew from their positions, and some even joined the march. This scene was captured by media outlets from multiple countries, and subsequently, a large crowd entered the Parliament building.

The scene shifts to the front of the Parliament building, where a giant Greek flag is displayed, while the flags of New Democracy, the American Stars and Stripes, the NATO flag, and a photo of the Prime Minister are thrown into a fire.

Currently, the Greek government has relocated to Crete with the assistance of the United States. Public order in Athens is mainly maintained by spontaneously formed public committees and labor unions. Banks, schools, ports, and most commercial facilities have been closed, and many protesters are vandalizing infrastructure such as electricity and telecommunications.

The Chinese Embassy in Greece is currently organizing an evacuation operation. Chinese citizens are urged to contact the embassy as soon as possible...

Host: A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said at a regular press conference today that China is closely following the developments in Greece and calls on all parties to exercise restraint.

China has consistently advocated respecting the right of all peoples to independently choose their development paths and opposed external interference in other countries' internal affairs...

U.S. special forces deployed in Greece are severing the country's main fiber optic communications cables connecting Greece to the outside world. Greece's international communications are primarily linked to Italy and Turkey via several undersea cables. Under Pentagon directives, the special forces have opted to maintain a media blackout, with the U.S. hoping to prevent images of the chaos in Greece from continuing to circulate on television and the internet worldwide until NATO peacekeeping forces arrive.

From July 5th to 10th, the Greek military, under the direction of the United States, began a forceful clearing operation. Troops previously stationed at the border withdrew to the Greek peninsula, and entered major cities from several directions. Tanks and armored vehicles advanced along the avenues surrounding Syntagma Square, while helicopters circled overhead.

Protesters were violently dispersed, some were arrested, some were injured, and some died. The parliament building was regained control by the army.

In other, relatively remote parts of Greece, cities remain in the hands of armed militias, while in more remote mountainous and rural areas, anarchy has taken hold, and the paradise of the Anglicans has thus arrived.

Meanwhile, an even more dangerous spark ignited in another direction—Türkiye decided to take this opportunity to launch a special military operation against Cyprus.

Greece was still in the midst of internal turmoil, with the army maintaining order in the capital and major cities, significantly weakening its defenses in the Aegean direction.

There is a decades-long unresolved dispute between Türkiye and Greece: Cyprus.

Cyprus is an island nation in the eastern Mediterranean. After being invaded by Turkey in 1974, it was divided into two parts: the southern part, the Republic of Cyprus, controlled by Greek Cypriots and recognized by the international community; and the northern part, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, controlled by Turkish Cypriots and recognized only by Türkiye.

Turkey now has 37,000 troops deployed in Northern Cyprus. On July 3, a group of armed settlers crossed the UN buffer zone from Northern Cyprus and launched a raid on a village in southern Cyprus.

The raid resulted in casualties among several Cypriot National Guard soldiers. UN peacekeeping forces intervened to prevent further escalation, but Turkey seized the opportunity to launch a landing operation in southeastern Cyprus, capturing several tens of square kilometers of territory.

Clearly, Türkiye wants to take advantage of the internal turmoil in Greece to forcibly unify Cyprus.

Washington is in a terrible predicament. Both Greece and Türkiye are NATO members, and the US cannot side with either. But if it ignores the situation—

If Türkiye were to actually attempt to unify Cyprus, any Greek government would view it as a fatal blow to Greek national interests, and the possibility of Greece withdrawing from NATO would change from very high to certain.

The United States is forced to walk a tightrope between appeasing Greece and appeasing Türkiye.

NATO headquarters in Brussels, July 7.

NATO held an emergency meeting, and the US representative proposed a plan: to form a NATO peacekeeping force and deploy it to Greece.

The peacekeeping force is expected to reach 15 personnel, drawn from the United States, the United Kingdom, West Germany, Canada, and other willing member states. Their mission is to restore public order in Greece, protect infrastructure, and ensure the safe relocation of the exiled government from Crete to Athens.

Other NATO members had varying degrees of agreement, with some hesitant. France agreed to send troops but was unwilling to accept unified US command, West Germany agreed to send troops but on a limited scale, and Italy only agreed to provide logistical support.

On July 14, the first batch of NATO peacekeeping troops landed in the port of Piraeus. Accompanying them were not only soldiers, but also a large amount of supplies—bread, medicine, generators, water purification equipment... These supplies came from aid from various NATO member states.

NATO's deployment strategy is to stabilize the situation first and then address the political issues. They first provided food to the Greeks so they wouldn't starve, and then stabilized the new government.

Over the next two weeks, NATO peacekeeping forces entered Greece from the ports of Piraeus and Thessaloniki in two separate columns, taking over the major cities.

This was not an easy process. Some armed militias were unwilling to lay down their weapons, and some local autonomous governments did not recognize the authority of the Cretan government-in-exile. It was only after NATO sent large quantities of food and basic necessities that the public resentment was quelled, and order was slowly restored under the combined effect of bread and rifles.

In late July, the exiled government of Crete returned to Athens under the escort of NATO peacekeeping forces.

The government returned to Athens to find a country in ruins: banks collapsed, ports were paralyzed, factories were shut down, and infrastructure was destroyed (some by demonstrators, some by the army during the clearing operation).

In an effort to appease the Greek people, the United States had to adjust the terms of the IMF agreement. Those provisions that most provoked nationalist sentiment, such as the privatization of ports and power companies, were all repackaged as management cooperation.

We're no longer calling it selling to American companies; we're calling it introducing international management experience!

It's just a change in name only, but at least it doesn't look as bad on the surface. Meanwhile, the US also has to deal with the Turkey issue.

The U.S. State Department will issue a strong statement condemning Turkey's military action, demanding an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of newly occupied territories, but will not impose an arms embargo or economic sanctions on Türkiye—because it cannot afford the cost.

The United States subsequently pushed for a UN Security Council resolution demanding Türkiye withdraw its troops. However, the actual effectiveness of this resolution depends on its implementation mechanism; without the threat of sanctions, the Security Council resolution is merely a piece of paper.

The Soviet Union's attitude in the Security Council was delicate. If it was just a matter of condemnation, the Soviet Union would vote in favor of condemning Türkiye, but it would not actually push for enforcement, because the conflict between Greece and Turkey was in the Soviet Union's interest.

Following the Security Council meeting, the Pentagon privately pressured Turkey to accept the freeze-line proposal. Turkey agreed to a ceasefire but would not withdraw to the original ceasefire line—it chose to retain the newly occupied territories, just as it did in 1974.

Previously, Türkiye controlled only 37% of the land; now it controls 48%.

Naturally, Greece was unhappy, and with nationalist sentiment on the verge of rising again, the United States chose to increase economic aid to Greece as compensation. Gephat could not militarily help Greece against Turkey, as both are NATO allies, but he could increase economic support as compensation for the US's failure to protect Greece from Turkish aggression.

But this is the trap. Greece was just asked by the IMF to tighten its belt in order to obtain loans, and now the US is increasing aid to compensate for Cyprus's losses. With these two expenses combined, US investment in Greece has increased dramatically again, and there is no foreseeable return on this money.

Meanwhile, in the United States, Republican rising star Donald Trump received new campaign materials.

The Greek government has few assets that can be privatized. The Greek state-owned telecommunications monopoly, "705u.com-reading club", is valued at approximately $30 billion, but it has now been sold to the United States for a bargain price of $15 billion.

Greece’s national electricity monopoly supplier, valued at around $60 billion, was sold for $25 billion.

Port prices are quite high; the combined value of Piraeus Port, Thessaloniki Port, and ten other regional ports is estimated at $30 billion. There are also three oil refineries, aviation assets, banking assets, real estate, and tourism assets…

After all this, the US government gained nothing, but US corporations did. Taxpayers lost money, while corporations profited.

During his speech to Congress, Trump slammed his fist on the table and accused Gephart of being a sinner against the American people.

"We spent five or six billion taxpayers' money to stabilize Greece, and who was stabilized? The big banks on Wall Street were stabilized! They used our money to buy Greek ports and telephone companies! The Greek people were not stabilized; they are still rioting! American workers were not stabilized; that money could have been used to compensate our people!"

For the United States, the cost of stabilizing Greece has been steadily rising. Even with IMF loans in place and privatization underway, the social unrest triggered by austerity measures will not cease. Greece is not an export-oriented economy like South Korea or Thailand, which can rebound quickly after austerity measures—it lacks manufacturing and export engines. Austerity will only further shrink domestic demand, reduce tax revenue, and actually increase the debt ratio.

Even if the US is currently using clever tactics to indirectly control Greek companies, the truth will eventually come out. The Greek Communist Party and the Left Coalition have no obligation to keep secrets for the US, and privatization will inevitably trigger a new political crisis in the near future.

Historically, Greece has been extremely resistant to foreign acquisitions of state-owned assets. The government tried several times to privatize its aviation sector before finally succeeding. Now, privatization is being forcibly pushed forward against the backdrop of riots and military stabilization, which will exacerbate the legitimacy issues of the new government.

Even if Greece miraculously stabilizes in the end, it will remain a permanent fiscal black hole. None of Greece's structural problems—such as tax evasion, asylum politics, industrial hollowing out, and the burden of military spending—have been resolved! The return on the money the United States continues to pour into this hole every year is zero!

In late July, the new Greek government compromised with the left wing in an effort to maintain domestic stability. The left-wing coalition led by the Communist Party of Greece entered parliament after winning more than 27% of the vote. They began to push for greater local autonomy, aiming to grant more autonomy to areas where the Communist Party held an absolute advantage.

In order to gain legitimacy, the new government chose to compromise and passed many laws on trade with the Soviet Union during its rule. The Soviet Union then started production in Greece, especially in communist-controlled constituencies, to consolidate the Greek Communist Party's position.

Seemingly not finding the US's sale of kidneys to aid Greece unacceptable, Slovenia, on the "advice" of the Soviet Union, announced on July 30 that it had reached a strategic cooperation agreement with the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) to reopen trade with Yugoslavia, Hungary, and other countries in an attempt to provoke the US.

Europe has gained another pro-Soviet "neutral country".

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Ljubljana, Slovenia, July 1995.

While the world's attention was focused on Greece during those weeks, the old government of Slovenia quietly passed away in a corner unnoticed by anyone.

Slovenia covers an area of ​​only 20,000 square kilometers and has a population of less than two million. It lies nestled between Austria, Italy, Hungary, and Croatia, on the southern slopes of the Alps.

It was once the wealthiest, most Westernized, and closest to Europe of the six republics of Yugoslavia. During the disintegration of Yugoslavia, it was the first to declare independence and also the one that suffered the least.

Post-independence Slovenia firmly adopted a "leaning to one side" strategy, making joining the European Community and NATO its national policy. Its political elite consisted of former communists who had transitioned from the communist alliance of Yugoslavia and donned Western suits; they almost unanimously believed that:

Slovenia's future lies in the West!

Slovenia at that time was clearly not good at judging the international situation. Only elites who were brainwashed by liberal ideas would think of NATO to make them rich. The truly smart ones had already gone to learn Russian.

The United States was willing to accept Slovenia before its independence, and Slovenia was a winner in the chaos of Yugoslavia.

Gephat thought Slovenia was doing well; the democratic transition was relatively smooth, the economy was performing well, and ethnic issues were not serious. If Slovenia were to join NATO, it would be the civilized country he envisioned.

The problem is that Slovenia's economy has been shrinking since independence, which is a negative benefit for NATO.

The Soviet Union was willing to assume Albania's debts and help it revive its economy because Slava was kind-hearted and couldn't bear to see the Albanian people suffer again. The socialist family needed to unite, and the proletariat had no homeland, so everyone gritted their teeth and pooled together some money to help.

The United States is different. You can't only support the free world when you're making money and profits. In the capitalist world, there are winners and losers. Someone has to sacrifice for the American Dream!

Before independence, Slovenian businesses exported approximately 35% of their sales to other Yugoslav republics. These markets were disrupted during the years of civil war due to the war and sanctions, and never recovered afterward—as the Yugoslav People's Federation joined the Warsaw Pact, Serbia and Montenegro had little demand for Slovenia's imports.

Croatia, Bosnia, North Macedonia, and Albania are now part of the Warsaw Pact economic system, and their trade has been incorporated into the OGAS coordination framework. In just a few years, they have achieved economic recovery and improved living standards.

But what about Slovenia? A large part of Slovenia's manufacturing industry—auto parts, electronic equipment, furniture, etc.—had its upstream and downstream supply chains embedded within Yugoslavia. After independence, these supply chains were severed.

In reality, Slovenia spent several years shifting its supply chain to Germany and Italy, and the EU's access commitments gave investors confidence.

However, the United States experienced the Great Depression and its economy was still recovering, so its interest in investing in Eastern Europe was limited. The European economy was also affected by the spillover effects of the Great Depression in the United States. The European Community did not want to be a burden on Slovenia's economic recession. Italy, as one of Slovenia's most important trading partners, was itself in a state of economic stagnation due to the Clean Hands movement and political turmoil.

Therefore, Slovenia cannot find alternative markets in the west.

At this time, Slovenia's GDP had fallen by 25% compared to 1989, its unemployment rate was extremely high, and its inflation rate was still at 20%. It needed to borrow foreign debt to make up for the trade deficit, but the manufacturing capacity utilization rate was only 70% - the factories were still there, but there were not enough orders.

Slava has always enjoyed attacking people's hearts and minds. Over the years, the Soviet propaganda radio stations deployed in Hungary and Croatia have been promoting the prosperous days of the Yugoslav People's Federation to Slovenia, as well as the advanced Soviet system and living standards. Occasionally, they would even send a few hydrogen balloons to drop some food into Slovenia—all in the name of caring for their former Yugoslav compatriots!

The Slovenian government was naturally uncomfortable. There's a term called "conversion fanaticism," which in the socio-political sphere refers to the behavior of individuals from disadvantaged groups who, in order to gain recognition from the mainstream dominant group, do not hesitate to oppress and trample on their own ethnic compatriots.

We finally escaped the misery of Yugoslavia, but now other countries are either clinging to our coattails or taking off successfully. Why are we regressing?

No! This is absolutely not our fault. It must be communism deceiving us. The Soviet Union is a big liar, giving us false propaganda to swindle our money!

The new government must not allow the truth from the outside world to flood into the country, as the psychological blow from such comparisons would directly undermine the political legitimacy of independence.

International relations, in a sense, is a science of winning. Regardless of objective conditions, if you can make your own people feel like you've won and the people of the other country feel like they've lost, then the collapse of the enemy regime is inevitable.

Of course, there are different types of "winning strategies," just as GDP calculations vary from country to country. Some countries favor performance-based winning strategies, aiming to make their citizens feel they have won by demonstrating tangible benefits: how many bridges were built this year, how many people were lifted out of poverty, whether prices in stores have decreased, whether queues have eased, etc.

Some countries favor the "virtual winning strategy," first creating a false impression or imaginary enemy, then claiming to have a strong hand and defeating the imaginary enemy, before launching a propaganda campaign to declare their victory.

Slovenia chose the latter.

However, it misjudged the situation. How could a tiny country with only two million people and an area of ​​20,000 square kilometers, situated on the front line of the rivalry between the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, possibly remain unscathed? Independence and autonomy are not rights that a country is born with; independence and autonomy only exist on the edge of a sword.

If Slovenia doesn't move towards the Soviet Union, then the Soviet Union is likely to move towards Slovenia.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The Slovenian Armed Forces originated from the Territorial Defense Forces, which were established in 1968 as a paramilitary supplement to the regular Yugoslav Army. During the War of Independence in 1990, the Territorial Defense Forces and police constituted the main force against the Yugoslav People's Army. It was not until 1993 that they were formally reorganized into the Slovenian Armed Forces.

这支武装力量最关键的人物是扬内兹·扬沙。扬沙从1990年到1994年担任斯洛文尼亚国防部长，在独立战争中发挥了核心作用。1993年他当选斯洛文尼亚民主党主席，1994年3月他被总理德尔诺夫舍克解职——原因是几名士兵暴力逮捕了被指控为间谍的平民。

Anyone can see how lame this excuse is!

Jansza was a hero of the War of Independence. He was the one who basically built up the Slovenian army. He had a very deep personal network of relationships with lower-ranking officers in the army. Is it really appropriate to dismiss him so easily?