Amb. Guilfoyle Says U.S. Wants Chinese Firm Out of Piraeus

ATHENS:. – New U.S. Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle said President Donald Trump wants Greece to somehow find a way to end the Chinese state management firm COSCO from running the port of Piraeus.

“It is unfortunate, but I think there’s ways around it, that something could be worked out, whether you pursue a path of enhancing output in other areas or perhaps that Piraeus could be for sale,” she told Antenna TV.

China invested heavily in debt-ridden Greece during the country’s 2010-18 economic and austerity crisis and COSCO turned Piraeus from a dormant port into one of the busiest in the European Union.

Greece at that time was wooing China and western investors were turned off by Greece’s economic problems that nearly led to an exit from the Eurozone of countries using the euro as a currency and needed three international bailouts of 326 billion euros ($378.91 billion.)

COSCO, China’s state-owned shipping company, secured a majority stake in Piraeus making it a key part – the so-called dragon’s head 0- of its global infrastructure project, known as the Belt and Road Initiative, noted POLITICO.

https://www.politico.eu/article/america-wants-china-out-of-greece-piraeus-port-us-ambassador-kimberly-guilfoyle-says/

Guilfoyle, a lawyer and former TV host on US broadcaster Fox, suggested that China’s standing could potentially be balanced by increased American investment in other infrastructure projects.

“I think it’s very important to have American infrastructure here to help support the region. To perhaps, in fact, enhance output from other ports and areas to balance against the Chinese influence with the port of Piraeus,” she said.

Greece sold Piraeus port under pressure from the country’s European creditors who wanted state enterprises privatized and COSCO was the only company to submit an offer but has remade the port.

Guilfoyle added that the U.S.sees Greece as a rising energy hub crucial to securing energy independence “to push back against Russian and Chinese interests,” although Greece also previously had sought more Chinese investors.

Source: The National Herald