In late May, the US Navy’s dock transport USS Arlington arrived in the Greek city of Alexandroupolis for a port visit. The 1,500 officers and enlisted marines on board spent three days in the northeastern Greek city and during their stay reportedly ate all of Alexandroupoli’s eggs. George Alavandas, a restaurant owner, said 6,000 to 7,000 eggs were consumed during one day of the US visit. “In other words, we have no eggs,” Alavandas said, according to local media. “I serve 16 different types of meat in my restaurant and they tried them all,” George Davis, former president of the Alexandroupoli Hospitality Association, told the Kathimerini newspaper. The sailors’ and Marines’ visit comes amid expanding cooperation between the US and Greek militaries and underscores the growing importance of Europe’s southeastern corner to the US and the NATO alliance.
A security hub in the Aegean
A US Army M1A2 tank is unloaded in Alexandroupoli, July 20, 2021. US Army/Andre Cameron
Alexandroupolis is located near Greece’s borders with Bulgaria and Turkey and about 60 miles from the Dardanelles, the sea entrance to the Black Sea. The city’s location and expanding road and rail network provide an overland route around the Bosphorus and allow quick access to the Black Sea, the Balkans and other destinations around NATO’s southeastern flank. The importance of Alexandroupolis was cemented in the updated Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement signed between Greece and the US in October. Under the agreement, the US received priority access to the port, which was especially valuable amid the war in Ukraine. “This access allows us to continue to provide military assistance to Ukraine and to counter malign actors and to exercise and operate in the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea region,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said during a recent visit of the Greek Minister of Defense. in Washington DC. Sailors from the USS Arlington present a plaque to John Bogdis, city clerk of Alexandroupoli, during a community relations program, May 23, 2022. US Marine Corps/Lance Cpl. Cameron Ross The increased US presence is intended to bolster NATO allies in the region and counter Russian influence in a part of Europe where Moscow has traditionally dominated due to ethnic and economic ties. “Greece is a key hub for supporting and … projecting an allied presence in a region facing various forms of revisionism,” Greek Defense Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos said during his stay in Washington. Since October 2021, the US has landed equipment and troops in Alexandroupoli multiple times, including its two largest landing operations in Greece ever. The port was also used for exercises and supported the regular rotation of US troops and equipment to Europe through Operation Atlantic Resolve. On August 3, the president of the port authority of Alexandroupolis announced that the Italian military would use the port to transport equipment to Europe. Britain plans to do the same.
Russian gas shutdown
Alexandroupoli in July 2016. Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Alexandroupoli also has a role in European energy security, with plans to build a Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) for liquefied natural gas offshore a few miles south of the city. The regional FSRU project will be operational by the end of 2023 and will be a convergence point for regional gas pipeline networks stretching from Italy and Bulgaria to Turkey and Georgia. The city’s FSRU facilities will form part of the EU’s Southern Energy Corridor, an initiative to transport Azeri gas through Turkey to Europe and help the continent disconnect from Russian gas. “As Europe now moves quickly to reduce its vulnerability to Russian energy blackmail and to get off Russian gas, the Alexandroupolis FSRU is becoming increasingly important,” Geoffrey Pyatt, then the US ambassador to Greece, said in May. Not everyone is happy with the growing geostrategic importance of Alexandroupolis.
Pressure point
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg in August 2016. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin
Russia and Turkey have expressed displeasure at the increased US presence in Alexandroupolis. In December, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov told Greek media that “the problem is very simple. More and more NATO and US troops are gathering on your territory. Hundreds, thousands of units of military equipment are being transported through Alexandroupoli.” “This worries us, you have to understand us,” he added. Greece had maintained a working relationship with Russia, but Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and Athens’ support for Kyiv led to a deterioration in their relationship. Each has expelled some of the other’s diplomats, and Russia recently declared Greece an unfriendly state. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also expressed his opposition to the US presence. “Establishing a base there bothers us and our people,” Erdogan reportedly told President Joe Biden in October, shortly before the US and Greece signed the updated defense cooperation agreement. Greece and Turkey are both NATO allies but have disagreements over a number of issues. Their relationship has further deteriorated in recent months, after Turkey disputed the sovereignty of some Greek islands. In June, Erdogan reiterated his opposition to US bases in Greece. “Against whom were they established? The answer they give is “against Russia”. We don’t buy it,” Erdogan said. The US military currently uses a Greek military base near Alexandroupolis and has yet to establish its own base in the city. However, as Alexandroupoli’s infrastructure expands and tensions in the region deepen, its importance will continue to grow.
