Filenews 3 January 2022 - by Andreas Pibishis
In March 2019, the leaders of Israel, Cyprus and Greece were pleased to see the United States enter dynamically into the game of regional cooperation. The presence of Mike Pompeo (former U.S. Secretary of State) at the sixth trilateral meeting in Jerusalem (March 20, 2019) created a new reality. Cooperation from trilateral, would be called three plus United States (or 3+1).
For the three countries involved in the trilateral cooperation, the presence of the United States was translated as a strong endorsement of the effort it had made in previous years. It was also a strong response to Turkey, which was trying to reverse this cooperation between the three countries. On a political and diplomatic level it was a significant development as it came at a time when former American President Donald Trump was up with Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The change of government in the US and the rise of Joe Biden to power brought two important developments in the Eastern Mediterranean region. As far as Turkey is concerned, relations have not improved at all, with Joe Biden himself keeping Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a distance. As far as the American President is concerned, he seems to be keeping the Israeli leadership at a distance. This affects the trilateral cooperation between Israel, Cyprus and Greece.
During their last meeting, the leaders of the three countries also dealt with the attitude of the United States towards trilateral cooperation. Noticing a reluctance on the part of Washington to stay close to 3+1 cooperation. That is why in the joint communiqué issued immediately after their meeting by the Prime Ministers of Israel, Naftali Bennett and Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis, and the President of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades, did not fail to make special reference to the 3+1 cooperation in order to send a message to Washington. The Joint Declaration of 7 December 2021 states:
"This partnership has the potential to create a new coalition based on common goals for regional stability to meet the challenge of radicalism and promote economic interests. The "3+1" framework for cooperation with the United States demonstrates the importance we attach to the US role in the Eastern Mediterranean. We look forward to intensifying our cooperation with the United States with a view to planning the participation of the United States, at the appropriate political level, in one of our next meetings in accordance with the letter and spirit of the strong support shown by the United States for our partnership.
We are thinking of strengthening our trilateral defence coordination, which includes strategic dialogue, military and defence-industrial cooperation."
The wording of the communiqué was aimed in Washington's direction in yet another effort to continue us participation in trilateral cooperation. It is recalled that Mike Pompeo at his March 2019 meeting had identified Israel, Cyprus and Greece as partners in the field of Energy and Security in the Eastern Mediterranean and had also underlined the US support for the trilateral cooperation mechanism.
This approach of the then head of the State Department does not seem to be shared by the current leadership of the US State Department.
The attempt to remove the "+1" from the equation of cooperation between Israel, Cyprus and Greece is evident.
A new old trend in Washington
The reluctance of the Americans to stay close to the cooperation of three countries with which Washington has excellent relations may have to do with a new trend prevailing in the American capital. A new trend that is quite old and that wants the Americans to opt for a policy of appeasement when it comes to Turkey.
So while the American President shows no intention of improving relations with Erdogan, whom he went so far as to call authoritarian, while Congress passes legislation that negatively affects U.S.-Turkish relations, the State Department is trying to appease Ankara through other actions.
As Michael Ignatius had pointed out in the recent past, "the State Department bureaucracy wants the 3+1 cooperation to be cancelled," noting that Democrats do not appear as enthusiastic as Republicans, and that's for Turkey's sake.
By re-establishing the old tendency, that is, to attempt to appease everything that annoys Turkey, it sends an extremely worrying signal to Jerusalem, Nicosia and Athens. Not only in relation to 3+1 cooperation, but in terms of the wider region of the Eastern Mediterranean.
