Greek leadership was quick to issue congratulations to former US vice-president Joe Biden on Friday, moments after news emerged that the Democratic contender for the White House has essentially clinched the 2020 election to overcome incumbent Donald Trump.
“Congratulations to US President-Elect @JoeBiden. Joe Biden has been a true friend of Greece and I’m certain that under his presidency the relationship between our countries will grow even stronger…” was the Tweet by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Although Greek-American relations are considered as excellent at the moment, and both the previous Tsipras government and now the Mitsotakis government have maintained cordial relations with the Trump administration, the “pervasive thinking in the country is that the current US president was and would continue to be “soft” vis-a-vis Turkish belligerance in the east Mediterranean and in response to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s increasing authoritarianism.
On her part, Greece’s president of the republic also issued congratulations to Biden and apparent vice-president-elect Kamala Harris, as did the leaders of the country’s opposition parties.
