‘Iron maidens’ among hydrangeas, or the long Athens-to-Ankara journey
We saw her disembark, holding tight to the railing, arriving at 2.40 p.m. at Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport. Alone, wearing a simple black ensemble, she stepped onto Greek soil, the first US Secretary of State to do so since March 25, 1986, when George Shultz met then-Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias at Vouliagmeni. Condoleezza Rice was here on a working visit for bilateral meetings and an overnight stay at the Inter-Continental Hotel on Syngrou Avenue. She received a warm greeting from the director of the Foreign Ministry’s diplomatic office Costas Halastanis, head of protocol Danae Koumanakou, and US Ambassador Charles Ries. It was chilly and the armored jeep with its opaque windows opened the door. Rice, slightly tired but smiling, got in. The jeep took off along the heavily policed Attiki Odos highway to arrive in record time at the hotel, because even «iron maidens» need a rest. The other «iron maiden,» Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis, who was greeted at the White House with a fatherly kiss by former President George Bush senior, returned in time from family holidays on Crete. Just before the 11 a.m. meeting, Bakoyannis was at the head of the stairs at the ministry’s neoclassical building to exchange the first warm handshake of the day with her American counterpart. Both were elegant, Bakoyannis soberly dressed in black and white, Rice in a long ocher-yellow jacket with braid on the lapels, small earrings and her hands free of bags and files. They entered the minister’s office for a private conversation that was to last half an hour but went on for a full hour. What was the first thing Rice noticed? The masses of blue and white hydrangeas decorating the office. «What beautiful flowers,» she remarked. «They’re in season. They’re everywhere on the islands, in squares, in the countryside and in courtyards,» Bakoyannis explained. A portrait of Greek statesman Eleftherios Venizelos dominates the office. Bakoyannis’s father, former Premier Constantine Mitsotakis, is a nephew of Venizelos on both sides of his family. Rice, a political science professor, has studied the role Venizelos played in history and the two women discussed him. Then it was time to deal with issues on the agenda and meet the press. Young politicians with many years of practical experience, determined to go as high as possible, the two women made an impressive show of female strength. Rice listened attentively to the questions posed by the Greek journalists and answered directly, choosing her words carefully to describe the substance of the meeting. There was an interpreter, as the Greek FM replied in Greek, emphasizing the traditional ties of friendship and alliance between the USA and Greece. «As with all free countries, we can’t agree on everything,» she noted. She also asked her American counterpart to encourage Turkey to respect the rights of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. At 1 p.m., Bakoyannis left first, according to protocol, to meet Rice at the entrance to Maximos Mansion where Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis greeted Rice warmly. A long series of meetings followed. Rice left Athens at 2.30 p.m. for Ankara. During her stay, the roads she traveled on were kept clear of vehicles and pedestrians, and a mass of 3,000 police officers greeted Rice, a robust figure in the Bush administration. As always in Greece, the visit went well, despite the protest rallies and the traffic blockades.
