Greece worries about Bush White House

ATHENS — Greece is quietly concerned that its relations with the United States will be downgraded under any presidential administration by George W. Bush.

Greek officials and analysts said Prime Minister Costas Simitis is concerned that the Bush administration will upgrade U.S. relations with Turkey at the expense of Greece. This would mean new weapons sales to Ankara and a decrease in efforts to resolve such problems as the Cypriot crisis and the dispute in the Aegean Sea.

President Bill Clinton is said to have been attentive to Greek concerns. But the officials said Clinton faced heavy pressure from the U.S. defense and energy industry, which did not want to jeopardize lucrative contracts with Ankara.

For its part, Greece has also been under U.S. pressure to buy American weapons. Defense Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos said Greece's relations with the United States are based on strategic considerations and that defense policies reflect national interests. Tsohatzopoulos said relations with Washington will not be affected by the lobbying of U.S. ambassador Nicholas Burns for Athens to buy U.S. aircraft.

A Bush administration, the Greek analysts said, would focus U.S. foreign policy on bolstering sanctions on Iraq. This, they said, would require the cooperation of Turkey, Iraq's northern neighbor, which has supplied an air base for U.S. fighter-jets.

Still, Greek lobbyists based in Washington said the Bush administration will do little to hurt relations with Athens. They agreed, however, that the incoming administration might disengage from Cyprus.

"The only possible change in a Bush administration would be that it may not pressure the Greek Cypriots," said Eugene Rossides, founder of the Washington-based American Hellenic Institute.

Rossides told a seminar in Athens last week that Bush will not enact any "substantial change in a very cautious foreign policy." He said Bush is likely to pick Colin Powell or Condoleezza Rice for his secretary of state.