Posted on May 21, 2025
When then-President-elect Donald Trump nominated Kimberly Guilfoyle as the new US ambassador to Greece in December 2024, his action was described, rather flippantly, as a sop for her recent breakup with Donald Trump Jr.
In fact, Guilfoyle, a steadfast Trump supporter, has been given an important task: to reduce Chinese influence in the area. And the control of Greek ports is a linchpin of that strategy.
The US is known to want to control the port of Thessaloniki. Its greater proximity to Central Europe suits perfectly the aims of India, Trump’s chosen partner in countering China, to create the so-called India-Middle East-Europe Corridor (IMEC) to promote its trade policy.
Ideally, the US would like Greece to pressure COSCO into abandoning Piraeus, although, understandably, is quite a tall task. But the Greek government already seems willing to conform to US wishes, some of which are shared by the EU: three months ago, it rejected China’s request for its warships to visit, and berth, in Greek ports.
India has also expressed interest in the port of Alexandroupoli, as part of its IMEC project. It would be helpful in bypassing Turkey, an ally of India’s archenemy, Pakistan. And Greece would positivelyview such a move, now that the US administration’s interest in using Alexandroupoli as part of the flow of weapons to Ukraine and the deployment of NATO troops in Eastern Europe has cooled considerably.
France is considered a possible partner with Greece in promoting IMEC through its own port of Marseille. But Italy appears to be competing with them for India’s attention, offering three southern ports as alternatives.
