In a parliamentary question addressed to Defence Minister Nikos Dendias, the KKE warned that the agreement could facilitate the adoption of practices associated with suppressing social movements and protests.

The party pointed to allegations of abuses of authority, the concealment of mistreatment of migrants and the Florida National Guard’s involvement in operations targeting refugees and migrants along the US southern border.

The parliamentary question, submitted by KKE MPs Nikos Papanastasis, Vasilis Metaxas and Thanasis Pafilis, reads:

‘The sixth round of the Strategic Dialogue between the governments of Greece and the United States, held in Athens on Wednesday 7 October during the visit of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, marked Greece’s increased involvement in the bloody military, energy and economic plans of the US and NATO in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

‘The signing of a memorandum of cooperation between the Greek Armed Forces and the Florida National Guard forms part of this “upgraded relationship”.

‘The launch of this “cooperation” constitutes an extremely dangerous and unprecedentedly anti-people move, aimed at bringing the mindsets, tactics and, above all, missions of the Greek Armed Forces and their personnel into alignment with those of US state armed organisations which, whenever circumstances demand it, also assume the role of terrorist para-state gangs. In major urban centres, they violently suppress popular demonstrations, including through the use of armed force, while along the southern border they hunt down, arrest and even kill refugees and migrants.

‘The New Democracy government bears enormous responsibility for this development. It continues along the same dangerous path pursued by previous SYRIZA and PASOK governments, which paved the way for the establishment of US and NATO bases. Today, it seeks to present this memorandum as an “upgrade of operational capabilities” and an “exchange of expertise” between the Greek Armed Forces and US state agencies. Yet all this amounts to another brazen attempt to deceive the Greek people.

‘The Florida National Guard has repeatedly been the subject of serious allegations within the United States. Cases of abuses of authority, cover-ups involving the mistreatment of migrants and its use in the criminal operations of bounty hunters targeting refugees and migrants along the US southern border are well known. These incidents demonstrate that transferring the experience of such an organisation to Greek military officers is intended to intensify the practical implementation of dangerous doctrines of “internal security” and “crowd suppression”.

‘Furthermore, the government’s decisions reveal a systematic attempt, particularly at this time, to further distort the character of the Armed Forces. This has already been happening in practice, under the responsibility of successive governments and at every level of command, as the primary mission of the Armed Forces has become the defence of NATO plans rather than the defence of the homeland. Ultimately, this is a process of turning the military against the workers’ and people’s movement.

‘All this constitutes a profound insult to Armed Forces personnel, the overwhelming majority of whom come from working-class families. The introduction of “joint activities” and the “exchange of expertise” with the Florida National Guard is unacceptable and offensive. It has nothing to do with the trust that our people place in military officers or with the expectation that their sole mission should be to defend our country’s borders and sovereign rights.

‘The KKE has consistently pointed out that the establishment of organisations designed to suppress the “internal class enemy” has historically been an integral part of capitalist states’ preparations for war, a tendency that is now prevalent in EU countries and across the world. This, then, is the real purpose behind launching US-inspired cooperation with the “trained” National Guard: to prepare for the “counterterrorism” operations directed against the popular movement and to legitimise even its armed suppression.

‘The invocation of cooperation with the Florida National Guard to exchange views, experience and tactics on civil protection and disaster response is calculated, insidious and misleading. Its purpose is to deceive both the public and Armed Forces personnel by proposing the deployment of military resources and personnel in vaguely defined “civilian” missions which, in practice, seek to subordinate civil protection to the requirements of war preparations and link it to the “resilience” of NATO and the EU.

‘The Armed Forces undoubtedly have the capacity to assist the population during natural disasters, including earthquakes, floods, fires and search-and-rescue operations. They should unquestionably provide such assistance whenever and wherever there is a genuine need.

‘However, using their specialised capabilities to save lives and protect property is entirely different from exploiting those capabilities as a justification for establishing a permanent, unified state mechanism incorporating elements of the Armed Forces, security forces, public services and private companies. Under the pretext of responding to natural disasters, such a mechanism would be aligned with priorities dictated by preparations for war.

‘In light of the above, the Minister is asked:

‘What measures will the government take to cancel the signing of the memorandum of cooperation between the Greek Armed Forces and the Florida National Guard of the United States?

‘The MPs

‘Nikos Papanastasis

‘Vasilis Metaxas

‘Thanasis Pafilis’

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